Achmea Investment Management B.V. Grows Stock Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 15,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 6,003 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $989,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 94,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 47,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMS has been the topic of several research reports. 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. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $72.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.91. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $56.61 and a twelve month high of $75.06. The company has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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, research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. 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. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In related news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 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 have sold a total of 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,682,720 in the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.