Barclays Boosts CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target to $65.00

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CMS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CMS Energy to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CMS Energy from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $65.55.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $65.95 on Tuesday. CMS Energy has a 52 week low of $49.87 and a 52 week high of $67.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.23.

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

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 62.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total transaction of $143,464.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,556 shares in the company, valued at $884,859.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.79, for a total value of $143,464.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $884,859.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $99,986.66. Following 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMS. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 313,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,662,000 after purchasing an additional 19,349 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 0.6% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 16.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 187,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,139,000 after purchasing an additional 26,379 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the second quarter worth about $1,236,000. Finally, Decade Renewable Partners LP acquired a new stake in CMS Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,347,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

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.