Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 202,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,417 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $12,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 30.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 20,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 10,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,098,433.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $884,859.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,098,433.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS Energy stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $66.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,154,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,023,433. The firm has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $49.87 and a twelve month high of $67.77.

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

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.80%.

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.