Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 209,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,515 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $13,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 5.4% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 886,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 42.4% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 19,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS stock opened at $73.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $56.61 and a twelve month high of $75.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.04.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS 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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. 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 yield of 2.94%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 65.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CMS. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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, Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is currently 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.