CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Trading Up 2% – Here’s Why

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) shares shot up 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $74.51 and last traded at $74.60. 303,400 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,125,473 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CMS shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. As a group, analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.5425 dividend. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total transaction of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % 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. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CMS Energy by 35.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 6,959 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 189,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,380,000 after buying an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in CMS Energy by 123.5% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 49,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 27,528 shares in the last quarter. 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.