BMO Capital Markets Increases CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target to $80.00

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $73.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS opened at $73.24 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy has a 12-month low of $56.61 and a 12-month high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by 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.