Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,961 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,961 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of CMS Energy worth $22,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMS. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 431.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the second quarter worth about $43,000. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America increased 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, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $67.86 on Tuesday. 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 12 month low of $49.87 and a 12 month high of $68.08. The stock has a market cap of $20.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.15.

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

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.80%.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total transaction of $143,464.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,859.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $4,098,433.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total transaction of $143,464.40. Following 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. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.