Gotham Asset Management LLC Trims Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Gotham Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 56.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,937 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 39.1% during the fourth 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. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CMS Energy by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 3,041 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 7,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,198 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.61, for a total value of $161,794.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 69,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,121.31. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,698 shares of company stock valued at $483,935. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CMS. UBS Group raised their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price objective on CMS Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target (up from $77.00) on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

CMS Energy Trading Up 0.8%

CMS stock opened at $71.50 on Monday. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $58.50 and a 12-month high of $76.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $72.63 and its 200 day moving average is $69.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.