CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.54

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 14th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.5425 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%.

CMS Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 5.8% per year over the last three years. CMS Energy has a payout ratio of 56.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CMS Energy to earn $3.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.17 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.9%.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CMS opened at $73.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.51. The stock has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. CMS Energy has a one year low of $56.61 and a one year high of $76.45.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its 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 net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. Equities research analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CMS. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on CMS Energy from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.09.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.