CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

CMS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.73.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:CMS traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.12. 118,393 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,273,862. CMS Energy has a 12-month low of $58.50 and a 12-month high of $76.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.36%.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in CMS Energy by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $950,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,486,074 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in CMS Energy by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,741,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $649,264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,269 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $89,173,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 8,733.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,013,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,110,000 after buying an additional 1,001,838 shares during the period. 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.