Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 32,474 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 755,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,474 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $50,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMS. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth $333,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 6.2% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in CMS Energy by 992.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 251,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,075,000 after buying an additional 228,501 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 10.4% during 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 in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CMS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho downgraded CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.15.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS stock opened at $69.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.93. CMS Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $55.10 and a 52 week high of $72.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 62.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 63,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,102.34. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value of $64,116.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at $1,672,564.50. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,686 shares of company stock valued at $2,228,084. 0.40% of the stock is 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.