MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 1,978 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,978 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $5,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CMS. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the third quarter worth about $40,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 431.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in CMS Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in CMS Energy by 206.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CMS Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

CMS opened at $69.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.76. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $55.10 and a 1-year high of $72.40. The company has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. Analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.21.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,672,564.50. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About CMS Energy

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.