Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 279,586 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,483,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 279,586 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.83% of CMS Energy worth $165,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in CMS Energy by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 4,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

CMS Energy stock opened at $74.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.47 and its 200 day moving average is $69.27. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $56.61 and a 12-month high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CMS. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.36.

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.