Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 367,299 CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 367,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,481,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,682,720. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $72.83 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.61 and a fifty-two week high of $75.06. The stock has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.04 and a 200-day moving average of $68.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. As a group, analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid 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 yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CMS shares. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

CMS Energy 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.