Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 316,011 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,175,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 316,011 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.78% of CMS Energy worth $2,544,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 8,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,377,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $72.08 on Wednesday. CMS Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $56.61 and a 12 month high of $75.06. 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 cap of $21.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.11 and a 200 day moving average of $69.18.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.