CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Declares Dividend Increase - $0.54 Per Share

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of 0.5425 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

CMS Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.8% annually over the last three years. CMS Energy has a payout ratio of 53.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect CMS Energy to earn $3.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.1%.

CMS Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE CMS traded up $0.44 on Monday, hitting $69.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,223,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,196,654. The firm has a market cap of $20.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $72.40. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $66.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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%. Research analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total transaction of $1,893,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. This represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,672,564.50. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,686 shares of company stock valued at $2,228,084. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.15.

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.