Scotiabank Increases CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target to $77.00

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price target upped by Scotiabank from $75.00 to $77.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.36.

CMS Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $67.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.06. CMS Energy has a fifty-two week low of $55.10 and a fifty-two 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. CMS Energy’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.515 dividend. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CMS Energy

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total transaction of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,417 shares in the company, valued at $1,672,564.50. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 64,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $589,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $248,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 34.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,427,000 after purchasing an additional 8,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 18.0% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 18,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.