Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stock Holdings in CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,562 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 23,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 14.4% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 4,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,629,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 32.6% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,605,000 after acquiring an additional 8,536 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS Energy stock opened at $72.91 on Tuesday. CMS Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $63.97 and a 52 week high of $76.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The stock has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.36.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 12.76%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that CMS Energy Corporation will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 64.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (up from $77.00) on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 target price on CMS Energy and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.25.

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.