CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CMS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten 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 target price of $70.29.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CMS Energy stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 284,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,267,373. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.16. The firm has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.41. CMS Energy has a 52 week low of $55.10 and a 52 week high of $72.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. CMS Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the third quarter valued at about $4,868,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 26.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 63,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,485,000 after acquiring an additional 13,130 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the third quarter worth $260,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 552.9% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 566,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,978,000 after purchasing an additional 479,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $561,000. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CMS Energy

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.