Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 478,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,269 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $31,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Financial Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 51.9% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 9,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 207.9% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,115,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,350,000 after purchasing an additional 753,182 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,175,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,544,370,000 after purchasing an additional 316,011 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,838,000. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $74.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $56.61 and a 12 month high of $75.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.27.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.