Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CMS Energy by 48,203.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 50,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,059,000 after acquiring an additional 50,614 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 16.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 352,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,267,000 after purchasing an additional 49,630 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 79.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 731,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,569,000 after buying an additional 325,101 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 402.6% in the 1st quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 19,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 15,700 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 325.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 20,056 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $67.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.41. CMS Energy Co. has a one year low of $55.10 and a one year high of $72.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 58.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho cut shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.29.

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.