Wall Street Zen Downgrades CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) to Sell

Key Points

• CMS Energy has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen.
• Despite this downgrade, other analysts have increased their price targets, with a consensus target price of $77.25 and several ratings ranging from "buy" to "outperform".
• The company reported earnings that missed analyst estimates, with a Q1 EPS of $1.02, compared to an expected $1.05, despite a revenue increase of 12.5% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

CMS has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $81.00 target price (up previously from $77.00) on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.25.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CMS traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,028,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,814. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $21.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38. CMS Energy has a 52 week low of $62.73 and a 52 week high of $76.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.69.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm's revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,198 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.61, for a total transaction of $161,794.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 69,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,121,121.31. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in CMS Energy by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,256,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $950,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486,074 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 worth $649,264,000 after buying an additional 2,131,269 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $106,745,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $89,173,000. Institutional investors 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.