HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Sells 653,627 Shares of 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% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 355,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 653,627 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy makes up approximately 2.9% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned 0.12% of CMS Energy worth $25,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMS. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,511,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 25.7% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 5.4% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 15,675 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on CMS shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho lowered shares of CMS Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.21.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,939,185 shares, 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.81. The stock has a market cap of $20.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The business's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.515 dividend. This is an increase from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.86%.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at $1,672,564.50. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.