Inceptionr LLC Invests $1.19 Million in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,675 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 174,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 408,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,840,000 after purchasing an additional 28,695 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $1,893,187.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 shares were sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total value of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,817,160. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CMS. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank raised their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.42.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $71.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $56.61 and a 12 month 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.68.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. On average, research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 presently 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.