Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 9,937,447 Shares of CMS Energy Corporation $CMS

Key Points

• Verition Fund Management sharply reduced its CMS Energy stake by 96.7% in the fourth quarter, selling nearly 9.94 million shares and leaving it with 338,227 shares worth about $23.65 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally positive: CMS Energy has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $80.17, though Jefferies recently downgraded the stock to Hold and cut its target to $74.
• The company posted solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.1%.

Verition Fund Management LLC lessened its holdings in CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 96.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 338,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,937,447 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.11% of CMS Energy worth $23,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,672,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,844,213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501,991 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in CMS Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,323,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $579,902,000 after purchasing an additional 183,589 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,900,632 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $358,865,000 after purchasing an additional 128,860 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $316,057,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 70.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,571,251 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $249,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,779 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMS. Bank of America increased their target price on CMS Energy from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on CMS Energy from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut CMS Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $88.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on CMS Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on CMS Energy from $81.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.31, for a total value of $222,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 67,111 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,018.41. The trade was a 4.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $73.51 on Monday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $74.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.86. The company has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. CMS Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $68.41 and a 12-month high of $80.36.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. CMS Energy had a net margin of 12.55% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. CMS Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.830-3.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CMS Energy Corporation will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.98%.

CMS Energy Company Profile

CMS Energy NYSE: CMS is an energy company based in Jackson, Michigan, whose principal business is the regulated utility operations of its subsidiary, Consumers Energy. The company is primarily focused on providing electric and natural gas service to customers in Michigan, operating the generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure necessary to deliver energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Jackson, CMS Energy conducts its core activities within the state and is regulated by state utility authorities.

Through Consumers Energy and related subsidiaries, CMS Energy develops, owns and operates a portfolio of generation assets and delivers a range of customer-facing services, including electricity and natural gas supply, grid management, energy efficiency programs and demand-response offerings.

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