Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stake in CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 35.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,738 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,744 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $950,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,486,074 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,131,269 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,173,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 8,733.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,013,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,611,000. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,198 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 directly owned 69,571 shares in the company, valued at $5,121,121.31. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CMS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.25.

CMS Energy Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE CMS traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.10. 2,926,292 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,007,880. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.96. CMS Energy Corporation has a one year low of $63.97 and a one year high of $76.45.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Corporation will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.20%.

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.