Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 104,404 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,931,669 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 104,404 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 1.65% of CMS Energy worth $328,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,175,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,544,370,000 after acquiring an additional 316,011 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $950,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486,074 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in CMS Energy by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,741,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $649,264,000 after buying an additional 2,131,269 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CMS Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,608,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $505,869,000 after buying an additional 98,910 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,986,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $199,049,000 after acquiring an additional 311,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,398 shares of company stock valued at $951,327 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.25.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

CMS stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.23. 2,475,812 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,290,156. The stock has a market cap of $21.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.50 and a fifty-two week high of $76.45. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $72.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. CMS Energy's revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. CMS Energy's payout ratio is presently 64.39%.

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.