StockNews.com Upgrades CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) to “Hold”

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank raised their target price on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

CMS Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $73.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. CMS Energy has a 52-week low of $56.61 and a 52-week high of $75.06. The stock has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.21.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. 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 CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,175,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,544,370,000 after buying an additional 316,011 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in CMS Energy by 32.4% during the fourth 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake 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 valued at $649,264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,608,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $505,869,000 after acquiring an additional 98,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,986,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,049,000 after purchasing an additional 311,489 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.