CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $75.43 and last traded at $74.92, with a volume of 217121 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $22.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.34.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted 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 return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 13.35%. As a group, equities analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,349.87. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CMS Energy in the fourth quarter worth $171,798,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,741,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $649,264,000 after buying an additional 2,131,269 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $89,173,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth $53,904,000. 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.