BankPlus Trust Department Purchases Shares of 430 CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in CMS Energy by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 206.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $73.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.39. The stock has a market cap of $21.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $56.31 and a 52-week high of $73.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS 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 expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CMS shares. Scotiabank increased 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 raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total value of $134,440.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 63,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,102.34. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. This 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 $2,669,620. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.