HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 2,445 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 94,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,445 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $6,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $53,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 10.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,503,000 after buying an additional 719,093 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 404.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 892,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,053,000 after purchasing an additional 715,891 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 760.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,664,000 after buying an additional 618,767 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 552.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 566,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,978,000 after acquiring an additional 479,336 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,720 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS stock opened at $73.46 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.35 and its 200 day moving average is $69.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $56.61 and a 52-week high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released 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 return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.5425 dividend. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.