Fisher Funds Management LTD Takes $53.90 Million Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 811,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,904,000. CMS Energy accounts for about 1.3% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Fisher Funds Management LTD owned about 0.27% of CMS Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CMS Energy by 171.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in CMS Energy by 206.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $71.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.27. The firm has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $56.31 and a 12-month high of $72.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. 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 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CMS Energy news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,102.34. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,669,620 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.69.

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.