CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Trading Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)’s share price rose 0.3% during trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $69.00 to $73.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. CMS Energy traded as high as $68.04 and last traded at $67.84. Approximately 121,897 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 2,297,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.67.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on CMS. Evercore ISI raised shares of CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total transaction of $143,464.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $884,859.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total value of $143,464.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $884,859.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,098,433.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CMS Energy by 431.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. CMS Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. CMS Energy’s dividend 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.