Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 1,715 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CMS Energy by 431.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $67.44. 488,487 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,304,031. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.88. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $49.87 and a 1 year high of $68.08.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 62.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CMS Energy from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $99,986.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,098,433.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other CMS Energy news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total value of $143,464.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,556 shares in the company, valued at $884,859.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $99,986.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,098,433.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CMS Energy 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.