CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,780,000 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the May 31st total of 9,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,098,433.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Brian F. Rich sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.10, for a total transaction of $122,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 97,682 shares in the company, valued at $5,968,370.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,098,433.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,027 shares of company stock valued at $365,651. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 14.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,662,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,367,483,000 after buying an additional 2,786,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,208,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234,791 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,593,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,817,000 after purchasing an additional 65,966 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 320.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,305,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $250,026,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282,697 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in CMS Energy by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,456,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,731,000 after buying an additional 883,180 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $58.89 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $61.03 and its 200 day moving average is $59.13. CMS Energy has a 12-month low of $49.87 and a 12-month high of $63.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.38.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.05. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 62.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CMS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut shares of CMS Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on CMS Energy from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.20.

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.