GWN Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,503,000 after buying an additional 719,093 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 404.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 892,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,053,000 after buying an additional 715,891 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 760.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,664,000 after buying an additional 618,767 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 552.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 566,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,978,000 after buying an additional 479,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS stock opened at $72.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % 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 $2,682,720 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

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.