CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CMS. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.36.

CMS Energy Price Performance

CMS stock opened at $72.81 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $76.45.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,175,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,544,370,000 after acquiring an additional 316,011 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 valued at $950,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486,074 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of 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 shares of CMS Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,608,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $505,869,000 after acquiring an additional 98,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 11.6% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

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.