CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on CMS Energy from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.09.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

CMS stock opened at $72.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.58. CMS Energy has a 12 month low of $58.50 and a 12 month high of $76.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. Equities analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 over the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. 93.57% of the stock is 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.