Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Stock Price

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) had its price target hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $79.00 to $81.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

CMS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen cut CMS Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CMS Energy from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:CMS opened at $71.85 on Wednesday. CMS Energy has a one year low of $65.17 and a one year high of $76.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.20.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. CMS Energy had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that CMS Energy will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.47, for a total value of $289,880.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 64,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,656,849.73. The trade was a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CMS Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in CMS Energy during the second quarter worth $238,951,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 1,048.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,460,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,743 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 215.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 1,435,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,429,000 after purchasing an additional 980,733 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CMS Energy by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,044,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,704,977,000 after buying an additional 702,713 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in CMS Energy by 3,585.4% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 443,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,458,000 after buying an additional 431,032 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

About CMS Energy

CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) is an energy company based in Jackson, Michigan, whose principal business is the regulated utility operations of its subsidiary, Consumers Energy. The company is primarily focused on providing electric and natural gas service to customers in Michigan, operating the generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure necessary to deliver energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Jackson, CMS Energy conducts its core activities within the state and is regulated by state utility authorities.

Through Consumers Energy and related subsidiaries, CMS Energy develops, owns and operates a portfolio of generation assets and delivers a range of customer-facing services, including electricity and natural gas supply, grid management, energy efficiency programs and demand-response offerings.