Avalon Trust Co Cuts Stock Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Avalon Trust Co lessened its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy makes up 1.4% of Avalon Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $19,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,509,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,713,000 after purchasing an additional 105,062 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,155,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $152,267,000 after purchasing an additional 18,403 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,879,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,253,000 after purchasing an additional 56,882 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,621,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,077,000 after purchasing an additional 147,540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,720. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $72.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. 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 52-week low of $56.61 and a 52-week high of $75.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.92.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CMS. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

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.