Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 21,515 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. 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 owned 0.07% of CMS Energy worth $13,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $333,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $537,503,000 after buying an additional 719,093 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CMS Energy by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after buying an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after buying an additional 8,927 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS stock opened at $73.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $75.06. The company has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.04.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CMS shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given 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.

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.