B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 58,431 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 53.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 58,431 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $3,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Norges Bank bought a new position in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $171,798,000. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,904,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 207.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,115,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,350,000 after acquiring an additional 753,182 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 404.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 760.5% during the fourth 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. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

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

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $75.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $22.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.75 and a 200 day moving average of $69.34. CMS Energy Co. has a one year low of $56.61 and a one year high of $75.52.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CMS. Scotiabank raised their price objective on 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 shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

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.