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

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.36.

Several equities analysts recently commented on CMS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of CMS Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of CMS Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total transaction of $1,893,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 144,059 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,686 shares of company stock valued at $2,228,084 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in CMS Energy by 206.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of CMS Energy stock traded up $0.63 on Thursday, reaching $66.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,323,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,494. The business's 50 day moving average is $67.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. CMS Energy has a 1 year low of $55.10 and a 1 year high of $72.40. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.42.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.86%.

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.