Stifel Financial Corp Sells 820 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Stifel Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 820 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $6,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in CMS Energy by 171.9% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in CMS Energy by 206.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS Energy stock opened at $67.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.13 and its 200 day moving average is $66.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. CMS Energy’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total value of $136,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total transaction of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,672,564.50. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CMS shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.36.

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.