Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 7,300 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in CMS Energy by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in CMS Energy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 94,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,267,000 after buying an additional 2,445 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in CMS Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 47,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 78,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,207,000 after acquiring an additional 6,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy 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 transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,682,720. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $73.46 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $56.61 and a 52 week high of $75.06.

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

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

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.