BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Stock

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its target price hoisted by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $73.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.99% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CMS. Barclays upgraded shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped 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 set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

CMS Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CMS opened at $72.08 on Monday. CMS Energy has a 52 week low of $56.61 and a 52 week high of $75.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.18. The company has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. Equities analysts expect that CMS Energy will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total transaction of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. This trade represents a 23.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CMS Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $333,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in CMS Energy by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 26,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 8,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.