CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Shares Up 2% – Still a Buy?

CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) shares traded up 2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $74.51 and last traded at $74.60. 303,400 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,125,473 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CMS shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CMS Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.36.

CMS Energy Trading Up 1.9 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.23. The firm has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

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

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total transaction of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.