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

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.36.

Several research firms have issued reports on CMS. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 11.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,715,000 after buying an additional 25,196 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in CMS Energy by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 6,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in CMS Energy by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 6,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS opened at $74.18 on Tuesday. CMS Energy has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $75.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

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.