CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $73.45 and last traded at $73.65, with a volume of 54032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.69.

CMS Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 65.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total transaction of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,102.34. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $333,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 992.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 251,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,075,000 after purchasing an additional 228,501 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,610,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $537,503,000 after purchasing an additional 719,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. 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.