Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 92,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,470 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $6,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 10.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,509,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,713,000 after buying an additional 105,062 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,155,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,267,000 after buying an additional 18,403 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,715,000 after buying an additional 25,196 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 1,199,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,743,000 after buying an additional 7,142 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $1,893,187.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value of $64,116.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,672,564.50. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,386 shares of company stock valued at $2,559,136. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

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

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.5425 dividend. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CMS. Scotiabank upped their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.