CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Director Sells $1,893,187.50 in Stock

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. This represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS opened at $66.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.28. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho cut CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com lowered CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMS. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 206.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Company 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.