StockNews.com Downgrades CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on CMS. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

CMS Energy stock opened at $74.71 on Wednesday. CMS Energy has a fifty-two week low of $56.61 and a fifty-two week high of $75.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.91 and its 200-day moving average is $69.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.36%.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction 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 owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $950,227,000 after buying an additional 3,486,074 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,741,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $649,264,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,269 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $89,173,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,904,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently 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.