Insider Selling: CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Director Sells 28,750 Shares of Stock

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of CMS stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.45. 905,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,282,697. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $72.40. The stock has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.23.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 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 company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. CMS Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 58.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CMS shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho downgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,509,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,713,000 after buying an additional 105,062 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,155,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $152,267,000 after buying an additional 18,403 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,715,000 after acquiring an additional 25,196 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in CMS Energy by 105.9% during the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,555,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,623,000 after acquiring an additional 800,344 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.