CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Stake Trimmed by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 206.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMS has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.69.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $72.43 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $73.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.45. 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 company has a market cap of $21.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.5425 dividend. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.36%.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total transaction of $134,440.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,102.34. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620 over the last three months. 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.