CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Director Laura Wright Sells 2,500 Shares

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of CMS stock traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.74. 509,685 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,144,555. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.19. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.31 and a 1 year high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS 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, equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,017,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth $291,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,624,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,895,000 after purchasing an additional 468,233 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 52,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.69.

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.