Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $9.08 Million Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $9,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 21.5% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 5,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $7,736,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in CMS Energy by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 19,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 5,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,912,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

CMS opened at $68.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.38. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $55.10 and a twelve month high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CMS. Barclays boosted their price objective on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho downgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.29.

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.