BMO Capital Markets Boosts CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Price Target to $64.00

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price target hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $63.00 to $64.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of CMS Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on CMS Energy from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded CMS Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.73.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE CMS opened at $59.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.16. CMS Energy has a twelve month low of $49.87 and a twelve month high of $63.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.98.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 11.89%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This is an increase from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.44%.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.78, for a total transaction of $202,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,971 shares in the company, valued at $3,985,144.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CMS Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in CMS Energy by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 64,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,721,000 after buying an additional 26,034 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 302,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,051,000 after acquiring an additional 100,618 shares during the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,061,000 after acquiring an additional 37,147 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,390,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,209,000. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

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.