Barclays Upgrades CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) to Overweight

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $75.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $68.00. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 4.91% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on CMS. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.69.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $71.49 on Thursday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.19. CMS Energy has a one year low of $56.31 and a one year high of $72.40. The firm has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.42.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced 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 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 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,669,620. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 32.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,741,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $649,264,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,269 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $89,173,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $53,904,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.