Brandon J. Hofmeister Sells 2,000 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Stock

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

CMS Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of CMS stock opened at $69.20 on Friday. CMS Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $72.40. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.42. The company has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.41.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 58.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho downgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 171.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 431.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings 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 last quarter. 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.