American Century Companies Inc. Has $5.30 Million Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 71.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 201,172 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $5,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after buying an additional 8,927 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,377,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS stock opened at $72.81 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $56.61 and a 12 month high of $76.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.44. The firm has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.