Metis Global Partners LLC Has $1.19 Million Stock Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 541 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CMS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,675 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,153,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 174,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total transaction of $1,893,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS Energy stock opened at $74.06 on Tuesday. 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 12-month low of $56.61 and a 12-month high of $74.19. The stock has a market cap of $22.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.59.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CMS. Barclays upgraded shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.69.

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.