First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Sells 2,150 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lowered its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 13.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,150 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 431.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the second quarter worth $43,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Tobam boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS Energy stock opened at $68.30 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.80 and a 200-day moving average of $64.62. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $54.13 and a 1 year high of $72.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 63.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.85.

About CMS Energy

CMS Energy Corporation operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility; Gas Utility; and Enterprises. The Electric Utility segment is involved in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. This segment generates electricity through coal, wind, gas, renewable energy, oil, and nuclear sources.