Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 13,130 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,130 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $4,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CMS. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 431.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 206.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total value of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,672,564.50. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CMS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho cut shares of CMS Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.21.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $67.50. 2,913,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,264,899. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.86. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $55.10 and a 1 year high of $72.40. The company has a market cap of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.41.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

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.