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

Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.50.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. KeyCorp increased their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.78, for a total transaction of $202,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,985,144.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brian F. Rich sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.10, for a total value of $122,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 97,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,968,370.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.78, for a total transaction of $202,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,971 shares in the company, valued at $3,985,144.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 64,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,721,000 after purchasing an additional 26,034 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 203,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,821,000 after buying an additional 7,188 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% during the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 302,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,051,000 after acquiring an additional 100,618 shares during the period. New England Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 38.8% during the third quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,061,000 after acquiring an additional 37,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

CMS stock opened at $62.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.84. CMS Energy has a 52 week low of $49.87 and a 52 week high of $63.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.37.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.05. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 13.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. CMS Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.80%.

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.