CMS Energy Corporation

NRG Energy (NRG) offers a potential upside of more than 11% compared to its current market price of $42.3.

Let’s take a look at analysts’ views and price targets on the utility stocks under review in this series.

Let’s take a look at how institutional investors have interacted with the utility stocks under review in this series recently.

Let’s take a look at where the stocks of the top-performing utilities of the last five years could go in the short term.

All the stocks under consideration in this series are currently trading at their respective multiyear highs.

NextEra Energy (NEE), NiSource (NI), and CMS Energy (CMS) have beaten their peers as well as the broader markets in terms of total returns in the last five years.

Among the ten analysts tracking SCANA, one analyst recommends the stock as a “strong buy,” while none recommends a “buy,” and six recommend a “hold.”

WEC Energy (WEC) has a mean price target of $63.8, compared with its current market price of $65.0, which implies a possible downside of 2% going forward.

Over the past five years, CMS Energy has raised its per-share dividend by 8.1%, compounded annually.

Major power companies have noted that they’re in the process of shifting their portfolios away from coal towards natural gas.

Xcel Energy (XEL) has a market capitalization of $23 billion and appears to be one of the potentially attractive utility stocks in 2017.

A $7-billion company, NiSource is currently trading at a dividend yield of 3%, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR yields 3.5%.

NiSource (NI) has a one-year median price target of $24.04, as compared to a current market price of $22.70.

CMS Energy (CMS) has a mean price target of $44.33 for the coming year. This implies an estimated upside of 5.6%.

CMS Energy surged ~30% in 2H16 and then trended primarily downward afterward. It is currently trading at a 2% premium to its 50-day moving average.

Midsize utilities including CMS Energy (CMS) rallied more steeply in 2016 than their large-cap peers, trading at a hefty premium throughout 2016.

CMS is expected to earn $0.29 per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. CMS earned $0.38 per share in the fourth quarter of 2015.

On January 18, 2017, NRG Energy (NRG) had the highest implied volatility among the utility companies that make up the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU).

According to analysts’ estimates, CenterPoint Energy (CNP) has a price target of $24.50, which implies a downside of more than 1% during the next year. It is currently trading at $24.76.

CenterPoint Energy (CNP) was trading at an EV-to-EBITDA multiple of 9x on December 27, 2016. Its five-year historical average also stands near 9x.

On December 21, NRG Energy (NRG) had the highest implied volatility among the utility companies that make up the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU).

In the last three months, NRC Energy’s stock has fallen 24.7%—the most among the utility stocks in the table above.

CMS Energy (CMS), a $12-billion company, has consistently outperformed utility peers and S&P 500 for the last decade.

As one of the fastest growing utilities, CMS Energy (CMS) is expected to have impressive dividend growth for the next two years, beating its peers.

CMS Energy (CMS) has paid dividends of $0.93 per share so far in 2016. Currently, it’s trading at a dividend yield of 2.8%.

CMS Energy (CMS) has consistently obtained an average return on equity (or ROE) of near 13%, largely due to its higher rate base growth.

In the past five years, CMS Energy has experienced flat or diminishing growth in its cash flow from operations, while its capital expenditure has significantly increased.

$12 billion CMS Energy has one of the highest earnings growth rates in the industry. The company forecasts that it will grow 5%–7% in 2016 and 6%–8% thereafter.

According to analysts’ estimates, NiSource’s dividends are expected to fall by over 9% in the next two years.

As of August 3, NRG Energy has the highest short interest-to-equity float ratio of all the utility stocks (XLU) at 5.9%. One month ago, its ratio was 5.9%.

Of the 17 analysts tracking Xcel Energy, 11 recommend it as a “hold” and four recommend it as a “buy.” Two analysts recommended it as a “sell” on July 26, 2016.

According to analyst estimates, DTE Energy (DTE) has a median price target of $101.60 for next year. This implies an upside of nearly 4% against its current Market price of $98.

As of December 31, 2015, WEC Energy’s debt-to-EBITDA multiple was 5.7x. Its three-year historical debt-to-EBITDA multiple is near 4.4x.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, Xcel Energy’s total debt stood at $13 billion. Its debt-to-equity ratio was 1.3x, and its debt-to-capitalization ratio was 0.6x.

Xcel Energy is looking to improve earnings by reducing the regulatory lag. Regulatory lag for a utility (IDU) is the difference of time between capital spending and rate recovery.

Xcel Energy (XEL) is aiming to improve its earnings by reducing its regulatory lag. Regulatory lag for a utility is the difference of time between capital spending and rate recovery.

Investors are hoping DTE Energy’s (DTE) rally will last a tad longer as it nears its all-time high. So far in 2016, it has rallied 14%, while utilities rose 12%.

The sudden surge in DTE Energy’s forward multiple can be explained by its rally early this year. It was in line with the utility sector’s rally triggered by the FOMC’s January meeting.

Currently, DTE Energy (DTE) is trading at a discount compared to its own three-year historical forward dividend yield. Its smooth rally in the last six months could be one of the reasons.

DTE Energy (DTE) is Michigan’s largest electric utility. But its non-utility segment could be the key factor driving DTE’s growth in 2016.

Michigan’s largest utility, DTE Energy Company, is set to report its 4Q15 earnings on February 10, 2016. Utilities from the US Midwest that have reported their 4Q15 earnings so far have faltered due to milder weather during the quarter.

All the sectors of the SPY turned red on the day. Stocks belonging to the consumer discretionary sector, the technology sector, and the energy sector saw major drops.

Alliant Energy Corporation reported 3Q15 net revenue of $898.9 million, a rise of 6.6% when compared to net revenue of $843.1 million in 3Q14.

After the 3Q15 earnings report, Calpine rose by 3.8% to close at $15.51 per share on October 30, 2015.

After gaining 3.4% the previous week, Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) was down 2.4% during the week ending March 27. The week saw only two gainers.

Southern’s adjusted earnings per share, or EPS, decreased by more than 20% YoY this quarter. Southern’s adjusted EPS in 4Q14 was $0.38 per share.

Hawaiian Electric withstood the fall in the markets. It was up 0.6% for the week ending on January 30, 2015. Hawaiian Electric closed the week at $34.30 per share.

Exelon’s revenue for the quarter was $6.9 billion, beating estimates by more than 21%. This is the second successive quarter that Exelon’s surprised Wall Street with higher-than-estimated earnings.

In this seven-part series, we’ll go through some of the main positions Millennium Management traded this past quarter. Why buy PPL Corp. (PPL)?