HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 355,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 653,627 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy accounts for about 2.9% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of CMS Energy worth $25,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 79.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 731,887 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,569,000 after buying an additional 325,101 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 325.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 20,056 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 130,804.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 30,108 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 30,085 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 992.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 251,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,075,000 after purchasing an additional 228,501 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in CMS Energy by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.21.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

CMS traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.26. 1,939,185 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,159,862. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $72.40. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $69.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.41.

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

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.