Short Interest in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Drops By 5.4%

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,010,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the October 31st total of 8,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMS has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho lowered shares of CMS Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total transaction of $64,116.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at $1,672,564.50. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 17.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $589,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $248,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 34.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,427,000 after acquiring an additional 8,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 18.0% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 18,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

CMS traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.26. 1,939,185 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,159,862. CMS Energy 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 current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.41.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy's payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

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.