Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Cuts Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,175,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 35,438 shares during the period. CMS Energy comprises approximately 1.5% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $126,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Blue Chip Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $104,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 357,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,761,000 after purchasing an additional 48,265 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 6,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 115,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,576,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.78, for a total value of $202,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,985,144.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CMS traded up $0.43 on Tuesday, reaching $60.63. The company had a trading volume of 531,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,513,343. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $49.87 and a 52-week high of $63.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 13.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 62.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CMS. Wolfe Research raised CMS Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.50.

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.