Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Acquires 11,063 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,063 shares during the quarter. CMS Energy accounts for 1.6% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in CMS Energy were worth $5,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Tobam lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 594.5% during the 2nd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CMS shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho downgraded CMS Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.85.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $71.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,236,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,266,737. CMS Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $53.38 and a 12 month high of $72.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $69.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.08. The stock has a market cap of $21.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.41.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The business's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.80%.

CMS Energy Company 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.