CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target Raised to $76.00 at Evercore ISI

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price objective hoisted by Evercore ISI from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CMS. StockNews.com lowered shares of CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target (up previously from $77.00) on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.25.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CMS opened at $73.68 on Monday. CMS Energy has a twelve month low of $58.50 and a twelve month high of $76.45. The company has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.75.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 64.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMS. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,103,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 8,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is 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.