CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC trimmed its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 90.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 66,247 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of CMS stock opened at $72.81 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $56.61 and a 1-year high of $76.45. The firm has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.36.

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.