By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS – Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.36.
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th.
Check Out Our Latest Report on CMS Energy
Insider Transactions at CMS Energy
In other CMS Energy news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,686 shares of company stock worth $2,228,084. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in CMS Energy in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 206.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.
CMS Energy Stock Down 0.3 %
CMS opened at $64.88 on Thursday. CMS Energy has a 12 month low of $55.10 and a 12 month high of $72.40. The company has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 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 1.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.48 and a 200 day moving average of $67.04.
CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.
CMS Energy Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 58.86%.
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.
Further Reading
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