Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Trims Stake in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 268,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,900 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.09% of CMS Energy worth $16,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMS. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 20,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 10,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 73,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,437,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total value of $143,464.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,859.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Brian F. Rich sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.10, for a total value of $122,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 97,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,968,370.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total value of $143,464.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $884,859.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,027 shares of company stock worth $365,651 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $62.96 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.87. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $49.87 and a 1-year high of $64.28.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMS. KeyCorp boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group cut CMS Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

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.