CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,810,000 shares, a decrease of 13.1% from the February 28th total of 8,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in CMS Energy by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $950,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,486,074 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in CMS Energy by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,741,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $649,264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,269 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth $89,173,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $53,904,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS Energy stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $75.68. 1,764,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,234,117. CMS Energy has a 12-month low of $56.61 and a 12-month high of $76.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. Analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.36.

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.