Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CMS. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 320.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,305,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $250,026,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282,697 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,662,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,367,483,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,071 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $111,004,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,208,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,456,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,731,000 after purchasing an additional 883,180 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on CMS Energy from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,098,433.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other CMS Energy news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total value of $143,464.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,556 shares in the company, valued at $884,859.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,098,433.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of CMS traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $65.75. 939,005 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,367,372. CMS Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $49.87 and a 52 week high of $67.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.01. The company has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.38.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 13.10%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.80%.

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.