Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 42,639 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 42,639 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $8,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 171.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 206.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $73.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.31 and a fifty-two week high of $73.37.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. 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 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total transaction of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,102.34. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Company 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.