CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday.

CMS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.09.

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CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS Energy stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $73.20. The company had a trading volume of 375,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,264,064. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $72.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.51. CMS Energy has a 12-month low of $56.61 and a 12-month high of $76.45. The company has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, 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.

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

CMS Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.