iA Global Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,598,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,259 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy comprises approximately 1.9% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $106,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

CMS stock opened at $73.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.04. CMS Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $56.61 and a 12 month high of $75.06. The company has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 in the last three months. 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.