Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 131,703 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 131,703 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $2,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $333,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 10.6% during the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 10.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 8,927 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CMS shares. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In related 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $73.77 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $56.61 and a twelve month high of $75.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.04. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. Sell-side analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. 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%.

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.