Sanctuary Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $2,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in CMS Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its position in CMS Energy by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 147,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 41,207 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in CMS Energy by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in CMS Energy by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 185,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,470,000 after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.69.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CMS opened at $71.49 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $56.31 and a 12-month high of $72.40. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.22 and its 200 day moving average is $68.24.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its 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%. Research analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.36%.

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.