CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Earns Neutral Rating from Guggenheim

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $69.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price points to a potential upside of 1.31% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CMS. StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CMS Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.15.

CMS Energy Stock Performance

CMS traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.11. 535,121 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,138,021. The stock has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.80 and a 200 day moving average of $67.80. CMS Energy has a 52 week low of $55.10 and a 52 week high of $72.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 12.81%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.50, for a total transaction of $64,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,672,564.50. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total value of $134,440.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 63,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,102.34. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,686 shares of company stock valued at $2,228,084 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in CMS Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in CMS Energy in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently 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.