Simplicity Solutions LLC Sells 347 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Simplicity Solutions LLC lowered its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMS. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Covington Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its stake in CMS Energy by 94.9% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Tobam raised its stake in CMS Energy by 2,432.3% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS opened at $58.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.38. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $49.87 and a 52-week high of $63.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $58.32 and its 200-day moving average is $57.09.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 11.89%. CMS Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 68.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded CMS Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut CMS Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on CMS Energy from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lowered CMS Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.64.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.78, for a total value of $202,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,985,144.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.