Wealthfront Advisers LLC Sells 76,476 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lowered its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 97.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,789 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 76,476 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in CMS Energy were worth $119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in CMS Energy by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in CMS Energy in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS Energy stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,949,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,321,580. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $56.61 and a 1-year high of $75.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.07. The company has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

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CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. CMS Energy's payout ratio is 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages 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 issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.36.

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.