WBI Investments LLC Grows Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

WBI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 156.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,772 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy comprises 0.9% of WBI Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $3,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CMS. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price target on CMS Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,198 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.61, for a total value of $161,794.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,571 shares in the company, valued at $5,121,121.31. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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. Insiders sold 6,698 shares of company stock valued at $483,935 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $71.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $58.50 and a 12 month high of $76.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. CMS Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.39%.

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.