CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.29.

CMS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.0 %

CMS traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.54. 487,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,272,236. CMS Energy has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $72.40. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $69.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.41.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during 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%. CMS Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. This is an increase from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total value of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,439.07. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMS. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 483,215 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,497 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 18.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 179,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,659,000 after buying an additional 27,562 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,509,770 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $528,713,000 after acquiring an additional 105,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.