M&T Bank Corp Boosts Stock Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 483,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $34,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in CMS Energy by 206.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho lowered CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.36.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $66.61 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.26. The company has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $55.10 and a twelve month high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced 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 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 58.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value of $64,116.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,672,564.50. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,686 shares of company stock worth $2,228,084 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.