Morgan Stanley Increases CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target to $68.00

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $63.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $68.17.

CMS Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

CMS traded down $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.82. 1,828,952 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,317,239. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.43. The firm has a market cap of $20.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.40. CMS Energy has a 1 year low of $49.87 and a 1 year high of $70.95.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during 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 revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energy's payout ratio is 62.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 48,203.8% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 50,719 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,059,000 after acquiring an additional 50,614 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 352,451 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $21,267,000 after buying an additional 49,630 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 132.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,071,473 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,100,000 after buying an additional 611,282 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 1,854.4% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 114,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,890,000 after buying an additional 108,350 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,655,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.