CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CMS. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America increased their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

CMS Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $73.16 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.35 and a 200-day moving average of $69.23. CMS Energy has a 52-week low of $56.61 and a 52-week high of $75.06. The stock has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

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

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.36%.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMS. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CMS Energy by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 8,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,377,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.