Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 528 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMS. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in CMS Energy by 5.4% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in CMS Energy by 11.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CMS Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,715,000 after purchasing an additional 25,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in CMS Energy by 43.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 6,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank upped their target price on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $73.49 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $56.61 and a 12 month high of $75.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. Equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Company 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.