CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 245,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,218 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.08% of CMS Energy worth $16,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMS. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 483,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,130,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in CMS Energy by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 18,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $248,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $589,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 17.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CMS. Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com cut CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.09.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $72.81 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $58.50 and a 1 year high of $76.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.36%.

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.