National Pension Service Cuts Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

National Pension Service trimmed its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 390,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 46,409 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $26,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in CMS Energy by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the period. RWC Asset Management LLP grew its stake in CMS Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 373,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,911,000 after acquiring an additional 15,484 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $53,904,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $552,000. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMS shares. Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total transaction of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 63,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,102.34. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,669,620. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CMS Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of CMS stock opened at $73.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $56.61 and a twelve month high of $73.37.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. As a group, equities analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

CMS Energy Company Profile

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.