CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.54 Per Share

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.5425 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

CMS Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 5.8% per year over the last three years. CMS Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 53.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect CMS Energy to earn $3.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.1%.

CMS Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $68.68 on Wednesday. CMS Energy has a 1-year low of $55.10 and a 1-year high of $72.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.02. The company has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on CMS shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho cut shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,686 shares of company stock worth $2,228,084. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.