Hilton Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Hilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 5.4% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 15,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 25.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.3 %

CMS stock 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $69.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CMS shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

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.