USS Investment Management Ltd Lowers Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

USS Investment Management Ltd decreased its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 42,048 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 0.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $950,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486,074 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in CMS Energy by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,741,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $649,264,000 after buying an additional 2,131,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 11.6% during the 4th 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. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CMS shares. Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $81.00 price target (up previously from $77.00) on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.00.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,774,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,307,033. The firm's 50 day moving average is $72.29 and its 200 day moving average is $69.93. 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 $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $58.50 and a twelve month high of $76.45.

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

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,198 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.61, for a total value of $161,794.78. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.