CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Shares Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) shot up 0.1% on Wednesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $75.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. CMS Energy traded as high as $66.90 and last traded at $66.78. 76,199 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 97% from the average session volume of 2,331,149 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.73.

CMS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. Guggenheim increased their target price on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. KeyCorp upped 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 shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.36.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,859.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,098,433.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jon E. Barfield sold 2,360 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 14,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $884,859.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,511,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 20,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 6.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

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 business’s 50-day moving average is $62.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.45. The company has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.38.

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

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energy’s 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.