Nuveen Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,608,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,896 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.54% of CMS Energy worth $107,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in CMS Energy by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in CMS Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in CMS Energy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth $237,000. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $71.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.50 and a fifty-two week high of $76.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.82. The company has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.25.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 6,698 shares of company stock worth $483,935 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.