Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 6,700 Shares of CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 10.9% in Q1, owning 68,300 shares worth approximately $5.13 million.
• Analysts have set a range of target prices for CMS Energy shares, with Wells Fargo raising their price target from $78.00 to $82.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from "hold" to "sell."
• CMS Energy recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.71, exceeding expectations, with a revenue increase of 14.4% year-over-year.

Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in CMS Energy were worth $5,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in CMS Energy by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 23,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in CMS Energy by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in CMS Energy by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 4,662 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in CMS Energy by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,015 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,629,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 8,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.30. 640,057 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,474,273. The firm has a market cap of $21.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's fifty day moving average is $71.16 and its 200 day moving average is $71.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that CMS Energy Corporation 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, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CMS. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on CMS Energy from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.62, for a total transaction of $147,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68,036 shares in the company, valued at $5,008,810.32. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.