CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its stake in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 41.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,763 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $2,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in CMS Energy in the first quarter valued at $188,418,000. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $134,747,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,457,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,519 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,134,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in CMS Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $99,270,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CMS shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CMS Energy from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on CMS Energy from $71.00 to $64.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on CMS Energy from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.73.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

CMS traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.53. The company had a trading volume of 551,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,137,212. The company has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.70 and a 200-day moving average of $57.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.51. CMS Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $49.87 and a 1-year high of $65.72.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.02). CMS Energy had a return on equity of 10.49% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.4875 per share. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 2nd. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 76.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.27, for a total transaction of $93,802.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 61,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,516.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.27, for a total transaction of $93,802.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 61,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,516.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian F. Rich sold 5,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.90, for a total transaction of $274,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 88,175 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,807.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,667 shares of company stock worth $1,423,372. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy 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.