CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $77.00 to $79.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. CMS Energy traded as high as $76.99 and last traded at $73.57, with a volume of 290 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $74.14.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price objective on CMS Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.25.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 18,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $589,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 17.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 408,331 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,840,000 after buying an additional 28,695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company's stock.

CMS Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $21.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.34. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $72.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.72.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS 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 paid a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.39%.

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.