Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 6,959 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,959 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 171.9% during 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. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 206.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 431.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the second quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

CMS Energy Trading Down 1.9 %

CMS stock opened at $68.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.21.

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.