Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Reduces Stock Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 30.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,581 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 5,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter worth $77,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the third quarter worth $7,736,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in CMS Energy by 42.4% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 19,936 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMS traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $68.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 191,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,270,214. The company has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.41. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $72.40. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $69.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.40. 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 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 business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. 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 is presently 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.