CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Given New $68.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price target lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research upgraded CMS Energy from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on CMS Energy from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded CMS Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $63.33.

CMS Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CMS opened at $59.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CMS Energy has a 52-week low of $49.87 and a 52-week high of $63.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.42. The company has a market capitalization of $17.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.38.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.05. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. CMS Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.80%.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 3,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.78, for a total value of $202,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,985,144.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 9.5% in the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 4,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 1.0% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 59,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $594,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 32.6% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Finally, Aquila Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 200.0% during the first quarter. Aquila Investment Management LLC now owns 30,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.