UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Stock

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $77.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.87% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $73.49 on Friday. CMS Energy has a fifty-two week low of $56.61 and a fifty-two week high of $75.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors 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 boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $950,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,486,074 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,131,269 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,173,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,904,000. 93.57% of the stock is 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.