Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 283 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 283 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 10.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 404.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 892,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,053,000 after purchasing an additional 715,891 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 760.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,664,000 after purchasing an additional 618,767 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 552.9% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 566,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,978,000 after purchasing an additional 479,336 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 1,122.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 479,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,845,000 after purchasing an additional 440,000 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $71.49 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.28. 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 market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $56.31 and a 12-month high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CMS. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the business’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 transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,669,620. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.