CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target Cut to $76.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price target trimmed by BMO Capital Markets from $77.00 to $76.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho downgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of CMS Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CMS Energy from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.85.

CMS Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of CMS stock traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.30. 2,807,363 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,256,258. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.62. The company has a market cap of $20.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.41. CMS Energy has a 12 month low of $54.13 and a 12 month high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in CMS Energy by 101.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,891,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $410,223,000 after buying an additional 3,473,977 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in CMS Energy by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,662,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,367,483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,071 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in CMS Energy by 310.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,125,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,519,000 after purchasing an additional 851,364 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 105.9% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,555,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,623,000 after purchasing an additional 800,344 shares during the period. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the second quarter worth $47,082,000. 93.57% of the stock is 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.