BLB&B Advisors LLC Sells 500 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in CMS Energy by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 206.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $68.69 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total value of $134,440.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,102.34. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,686 shares of company stock worth $2,228,084 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMS. Mizuho cut shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.15.

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.