Polymer Capital Management US LLC Makes New Investment in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 40,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,666,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.36.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS stock opened at $72.81 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.24 and its 200-day moving average is $69.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. CMS Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $56.61 and a 52 week high of $76.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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 $0.5425 dividend. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.