Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 755,162 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,474 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.25% of CMS Energy worth $50,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CMS Energy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in CMS Energy by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in CMS Energy by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS stock traded down $0.95 on Friday, reaching $68.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,237,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,225,346. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $66.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.04. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.31 and a 1 year high of $72.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.42.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. Analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy's payout ratio is presently 62.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CMS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value 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 $1,672,564.50. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total value of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,386 shares of company stock valued at $2,695,476. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.