Fisher Funds Management LTD Invests $53.90 Million in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 811,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,904,000. CMS Energy makes up 1.3% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $552,000. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 23,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 6,742 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its position in CMS Energy by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 9,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 started coverage on CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total transaction of $1,893,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total value of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 63,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,248,102.34. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CMS Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CMS stock opened at $71.49 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $56.31 and a 1-year high of $72.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.27. The firm has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.36%.

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.