Alliancebernstein L.P. Raises Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 341,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.11% of CMS Energy worth $22,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS Energy stock opened at $70.98 on Tuesday. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $56.61 and a 12-month high of $76.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.44.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This trade represents 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 accessible through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CMS. Scotiabank upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock 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. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.