CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

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

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $75.14 on Wednesday. CMS Energy has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $75.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.34. The company has a market capitalization of $22.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. 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 (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $950,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486,074 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 28.0% during 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 buying an additional 2,131,269 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth $89,173,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth $53,904,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

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.