CMS Energy (CMS) Competitors

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) and American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends, profitability and risk.

Is CMS or AEP a better dividend stock?

CMS Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. CMS Energy pays out 64.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Electric Power pays out 54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. CMS Energy has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. American Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer CMS or AEP?

CMS Energy currently has a consensus price target of $77.25, suggesting a potential upside of 5.96%. American Electric Power has a consensus price target of $111.29, suggesting a potential downside of 0.64%. Given CMS Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe CMS Energy is more favorable than American Electric Power.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CMS Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
American Electric Power	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Which has more risk & volatility, CMS or AEP?

CMS Energy has a beta of 0.36, meaning that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, CMS or AEP?

American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than CMS Energy. American Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CMS Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CMS Energy	$7.52B	2.90	$1.00B	$3.38	21.57
American Electric Power	$19.72B	3.04	$2.97B	$6.84	16.37

Is CMS or AEP more profitable?

American Electric Power has a net margin of 17.68% compared to CMS Energy's net margin of 12.76%. CMS Energy's return on equity of 12.07% beat American Electric Power's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CMS Energy	12.76%	12.07%	2.87%
American Electric Power	17.68%	11.55%	3.11%

Does the media favor CMS or AEP?

In the previous week, American Electric Power had 21 more articles in the media than CMS Energy. MarketBeat recorded 36 mentions for American Electric Power and 15 mentions for CMS Energy. CMS Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.53 beat American Electric Power's score of 1.49 indicating that CMS Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CMS Energy	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
American Electric Power	33 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in CMS or AEP?

93.6% of CMS Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of CMS Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

American Electric Power beats CMS Energy on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.