Jennison Associates LLC Sells 27,892 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,931,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,892 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.65% of CMS Energy worth $128,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $237,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $176,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in CMS Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 61,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,106,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company's stock.

CMS Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CMS traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $68.19. The stock had a trading volume of 3,448,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,311. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.79. The firm has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CMS. Mizuho cut shares of CMS Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price 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 lifted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,672,564.50. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,686 shares of company stock worth $2,228,084. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.