CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotiabank Analyst Says

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from $75.00 to $77.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on CMS. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho lowered shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.36.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $67.32 on Thursday. CMS Energy has a 1 year low of $55.10 and a 1 year high of $72.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.13 and its 200 day moving average is $66.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.86%.

Insider Activity

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value of $64,116.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,672,564.50. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 325.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 20,056 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 6,247 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in CMS Energy by 79.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 731,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,569,000 after purchasing an additional 325,101 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 12.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in CMS Energy by 1,476.1% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 1,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Company Profile

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.