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 stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,439.07. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS opened at $68.52 on Thursday. CMS Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $55.10 and a twelve month high of $72.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.515 dividend. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 0.6% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in CMS Energy by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its position in CMS Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 15,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,107,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 25.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by 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.