CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Lowered to Neutral Rating by Guggenheim

Guggenheim lowered shares of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Mizuho downgraded CMS Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on CMS Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

CMS Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:CMS opened at $65.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.42. CMS Energy has a 12 month low of $55.10 and a 12 month high of $72.40.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 14.01%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that CMS Energy will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. This trade represents a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.17, for a total transaction of $136,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 64,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,439.07. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,686 shares of company stock worth $2,228,084 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMS. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in CMS Energy by 206.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in CMS Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in CMS Energy by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 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.