Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 40.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,217 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $2,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,065 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CMS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,571 shares in the company, valued at $5,121,121.31. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.95. 4,439,434 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,344,833. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50-day moving average price is $71.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.03. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $58.50 and a 1-year high of $76.45.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. The business's revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy's payout ratio is currently 64.39%.

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.