Ethic Inc. Makes New Investment in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,198 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.61, for a total transaction of $161,794.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 69,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,121,121.31. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,698 shares of company stock valued at $483,935 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of CMS traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $71.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,236,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,075. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $58.50 and a 1-year high of $76.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

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

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CMS. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.25.

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.