CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $76.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. CMS Energy traded as high as $76.99 and last traded at $73.57, with a volume of 290 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.14.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America boosted 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, March 24th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in CMS Energy by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,342,000 after buying an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in CMS Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,103,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,787,000 after acquiring an additional 8,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business's 50 day moving average is $72.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.67.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. The firm's revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.39%.

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.