BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Stock

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $73.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target suggests a potential upside of 10.99% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on CMS. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $72.08 on Monday. CMS Energy has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $75.06. 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 has a market cap of $21.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.18.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. Equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. 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.