Aviva PLC Acquires 6,816 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 623,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned 0.21% of CMS Energy worth $41,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after buying an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,103,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after buying an additional 8,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,377,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Down 3.6 %

NYSE:CMS opened at $72.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a PEG 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.43. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $76.45.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy 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.