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

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,500,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the August 31st total of 8,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Guggenheim increased their target price on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 431.3% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CMS opened at $71.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.18. CMS Energy has a fifty-two week low of $49.87 and a fifty-two week high of $71.48. The firm has a market cap of $21.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.83.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 62.80%.

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.