Brokerages Set CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Target Price at $70.36

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.36.

A number of analysts have commented on CMS shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lowered CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total transaction of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,686 shares of company stock valued at $2,228,084. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in CMS Energy by 206.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $66.61 on Friday. CMS Energy has a fifty-two week low of $55.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.40. The company has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.28.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. CMS Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.