Sciencast Management LP Acquires 3,561 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Sciencast Management LP increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $53,904,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in CMS Energy by 404.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 892,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,053,000 after purchasing an additional 715,891 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in CMS Energy by 760.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,664,000 after purchasing an additional 618,767 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in CMS Energy by 552.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 566,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,978,000 after purchasing an additional 479,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in CMS Energy by 1,122.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 479,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,845,000 after purchasing an additional 440,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of CMS stock opened at $73.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.12. The company has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $56.61 and a 1-year high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.