Allstate Corp Purchases New Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $171,798,000. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $53,904,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 207.9% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,115,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,350,000 after purchasing an additional 753,182 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 404.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 892,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,053,000 after purchasing an additional 715,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 760.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,664,000 after buying an additional 618,767 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $75.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.34. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $75.52.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CMS. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.