Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $1.07 Million Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CMS Energy by 171.9% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in CMS Energy during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in CMS Energy during the third quarter worth about $56,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total transaction of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,386 shares of company stock worth $2,559,136. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

CMS Energy stock opened at $68.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $56.31 and a 52-week high of $72.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.12. The firm has a market cap of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.42.

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

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Seven equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.