HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,445 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $6,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 47,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 78,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,207,000 after purchasing an additional 6,572 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth $7,958,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 103.4% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 60,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,021,000 after buying an additional 30,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on 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 shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % 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 CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,682,720. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $73.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.01. The company has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $56.61 and a 12-month high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.36%.

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.