New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Purchases 3,348 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 1,344.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 8,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $74.71 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.91 and a 200-day moving average of $69.38. The company has a market cap of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy Co. has a one year low of $56.61 and a one year high of $75.52.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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%. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. 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 is 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This trade represents 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.36.

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.