ING Groep NV Sells 1,791 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,791 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $2,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Creative Planning grew its position in CMS Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 33,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 28.5% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 15.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 38,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $179,990,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 1,532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMS. 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. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.69.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of CMS Energy 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total value of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,102.34. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $71.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.24. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $56.31 and a 52-week high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

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.