Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $16.39 Million Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 245,934 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,218 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of CMS Energy worth $16,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CMS. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMS. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.73.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

CMS Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CMS Energy stock traded up $0.56 on Thursday, hitting $74.06. The stock had a trading volume of 5,981,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,569,264. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $58.50 and a twelve month high of $76.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.57 and a 200 day moving average of $69.62.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.13). CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. Sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is 65.36%.

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.