CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 528 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,904,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 404.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 715,891 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 760.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 618,767 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 552.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 479,336 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 1,122.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 479,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,845,000 after acquiring an additional 440,000 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CMS. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

CMS Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

CMS opened at $73.49 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.12. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $56.61 and a 1-year high of $75.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its 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%. Analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.