CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.29.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMS. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI raised CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

CMS Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CMS stock opened at $68.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.75 and a 200-day moving average of $65.38. The stock has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.41. CMS Energy has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $72.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.23.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In related news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 483,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,130,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 18.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 179,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,659,000 after purchasing an additional 27,562 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,509,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,713,000 after buying an additional 105,062 shares during the period. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $450,000. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

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.