CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on CMS. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.21.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CMS opened at $70.49 on Thursday. CMS Energy has a 1-year low of $55.10 and a 1-year high of $72.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.69. The firm has a market cap of $21.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.41.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. CMS Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is presently 58.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total value of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,672,564.50. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,439.07. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $589,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,427,000 after acquiring an additional 8,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 18,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.