Brokerages Set CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Price Target at $75.36

Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.36.

CMS has been the topic of several research reports. 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 research note on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

CMS Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CMS stock opened at $73.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.23. The firm has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy has a 1-year low of $56.61 and a 1-year high of $75.06. 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 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 net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. On average, analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 15,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in CMS Energy by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in CMS Energy by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.