HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Sells 653,627 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 64.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 355,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 653,627 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy accounts for about 2.9% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $25,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,868,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 63,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,485,000 after buying an additional 13,130 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP purchased a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $260,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 552.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 566,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,978,000 after buying an additional 479,336 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $561,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total transaction of $64,116.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,672,564.50. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total value of $136,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $68.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.81. CMS Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $55.10 and a 52 week high of $72.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.41.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. CMS Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.515 dividend. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.86%.

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.