Avalon Trust Co Trims Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Avalon Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 289,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy accounts for 1.4% of Avalon Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Avalon Trust Co owned approximately 0.10% of CMS Energy worth $19,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $72.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.61 and a fifty-two week high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 65.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CMS. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,285.15. This represents a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,720. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.