CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Short Interest Up 6.1% in September

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,500,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the August 31st total of 8,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CMS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price target on CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.38.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS Energy stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,993,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,307,962. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.31 and its 200-day moving average is $62.74. CMS Energy has a 12-month low of $49.87 and a 12-month high of $71.48.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 431.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.