Financial Counselors Inc. Makes New $202,000 Investment in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Financial Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CMS. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in CMS Energy by 35.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after buying an additional 6,959 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 189,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in CMS Energy by 123.5% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 49,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 27,528 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $74.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.27. CMS Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $56.61 and a 52 week high of $75.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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 analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. This is an increase 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 is 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 over the last three months. 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.