CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.15.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CMS shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho cut shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st.

CMS Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

CMS opened at $68.69 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, 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 has a 12 month low of $55.10 and a 12 month high of $72.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.89.

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 return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.5425 dividend. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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’s payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total value of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total transaction of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,672,564.50. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,686 shares of company stock worth $2,228,084. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 310.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,125,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,519,000 after buying an additional 851,364 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 10.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 404.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 892,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,053,000 after purchasing an additional 715,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 760.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,664,000 after purchasing an additional 618,767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% 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.