Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 109,620 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,433,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 109,620 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.48% of CMS Energy worth $95,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,175,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,544,370,000 after buying an additional 316,011 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,509,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,713,000 after acquiring an additional 105,062 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $171,798,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.9% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,879,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $125,253,000 after acquiring an additional 56,882 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $73.16 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $56.61 and a 1-year high of $75.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.23.

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

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CMS. Scotiabank upped their target price on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

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.