BMO Capital Markets Boosts CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target to $79.00

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) had its price target boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $77.00 to $79.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $81.00 price target (up previously from $77.00) on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.25.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CMS traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.93. 1,771,939 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,811. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $72.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. CMS Energy has a 52-week low of $58.50 and a 52-week high of $76.45. The company has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $5,306,349.87. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMS. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its position in CMS Energy by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 32,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,407,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 4.5% in the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in CMS Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 11,233 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in CMS Energy by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,550 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by 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.