Zimmer Partners LP Invests $89.17 Million in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,337,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $89,173,000. CMS Energy comprises 1.5% of Zimmer Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Zimmer Partners LP owned 0.45% of CMS Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CMS. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CMS shares. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target (up from $77.00) on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.25.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,198 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.61, for a total value of $161,794.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,121,121.31. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,698 shares of company stock valued at $483,935 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $71.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.85. The company has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $58.50 and a 12-month high of $76.45.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.39%.

About CMS Energy

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.