Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $1.27 Million Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CMS. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in CMS Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $73.46 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. 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 52-week low of $56.61 and a 52-week high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.5425 dividend. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,682,720 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CMS. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

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.