Owner Scorecard


← All companies ← CMPR Manual CMSA → ← AVA Multi-Utilities CMSA →

CMS, CMS Energy Corporation

Multi-Utilities capital-intensive Regulated utility

CMS Energy CMS Energy was formed as a corporation in Michigan in 1987 and is an energy company operating primarily in Michigan.

Consumers' customer base consists of a mix of primarily residential, commercial, and diversified industrial customers.

NorthStar Clean Energy, through its subsidiaries and equity investments, is engaged in domestic independent power production, including the development and operation of renewable generation, and the marketing of independent power production.

Latest annual: FY2025 10-K
CMS · CMS Energy Corporation
I

The business

What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.

Revenue · FY2025
$8.5B
+13.6% YoY · 6% 5-yr CAGR
Vital signs · TTM, with 5-yr average
Revenue $8.8B 5-yr avg $7.9B
Operating margin 18.9% 5-yr avg 17.3%
ROIC 5% 5-yr avg 5%

The business in brief

read the 10-K →

What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.

Situation
Regulated utility. Returns are set by regulation on an approved rate base; the capital spending regulators approve becomes the growth, recovered through allowed rates.
What moves the needle
Operating margin has run about 18% through the cycle, a solid margin the cost base and competition set as much as the price does. That margin has stayed fairly steady relative to where it runs (14%–20% over the years), so unit growth and cost discipline, not a moving line, are the lever. Capital spending runs about 28% of sales, well above depreciation, so the return earned on what it sinks into that plant weighs as much as the margin. Read this kind of business on rate base and the allowed return. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on cyclicality & demand, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
Is it a good business?
Return on capital has rarely cleared the cost of capital (median 5%, above 15% in 0 of 10 years). By owner earnings: roughly 11% of revenue reaches owners as cash, consistently. Modest returns here are the design, not a verdict: a regulated utility's prices are set by commission, so the questions are the return the regulator allows, how fast the invested base it earns that return on is growing, and the health of the relationship with the commissions that decide both — all of which live in the 10-K, not the multiple.

Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.

II

The record

Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.

The record, 2016–2025

realized figures from each filing · older years to the left
2016’162017’172018’182019’192020’202021’212022’222023’232024’242025’25TTMTTMJun 2026
Income statement
$6.4B$6.6B$6.9B$6.6B$6.4B$7.3B$8.6B$7.5B$7.5B$8.5B$8.8BRevenueRevenue
$1.3B$1.3B$1.2B$1.1B$1.2B$1.1B$1.2B$1.2B$1.5B$1.7B$1.7BOperating incomeOp. inc.
19.6%20.3%16.9%16.8%19.2%15.6%14.2%16.6%19.8%20.2%18.9%Operating marginOp. mgn
$826M$886M$774M$764M$809M$823M$902M$954M$1.1B$1.2BPretax incomePretax
$551M$460M$657M$680M$755M$1.4B$837M$887M$1.0B$1.1B$1.0BNet incomeNet inc.
33%48%15%17%14%12%10%15%16%20%19%Effective tax rateTax rate
Cash flow & returns
$1.6B$1.7B$1.7B$1.8B$1.3B$1.8B$855M$2.3B$2.4B$2.2B$2.1BOperating cash flowOp. cash
$811M$881M$933M$989M$1.0B$1.1B$1.1B$1.2B$1.2B$1.3B$1.4BDepreciationDeprec.
$267M$364M$113M$121M($522M)($648M)($1.1B)$242M$127M($142M)($228M)Working capital & otherWC & other
$1.7B$1.7B$2.1B$2.1B$2.3B$2.1B$2.4BCapexCapex
26.1%25.3%30.2%31.7%36.0%28.3%27.6%Capex / revenueCapex/rev
$818M$824M$770M$801M$233M$705M($271M)Owner earningsOwner earn.
12.8%12.5%11.2%12.1%3.6%9.6%−3.2%Owner earnings marginOE mgn
($43M)$40M($371M)($307M)($1.0B)($257M)($1.5B)Free cash flowFCF
−0.7%0.6%−5.4%−4.6%−16.1%−3.5%−17.7%Free cash flow marginFCF mgn
$347M$377M$407M$436M$467M$509M$546M$571MDividends paidDiv. paid
($1.9B)($1.9B)($2.6B)($2.8B)($2.9B)($1.2B)($2.5B)($3.4B)($3.1B)($4.0B)Investing cash flowInv. cash
$255M$110M$874M$1.0B$1.6B($295M)$1.3B$1.1B$614M$2.2BFinancing cash flowFin. cash
($31M)($53M)($29M)($18M)$28M$291M($294M)$66M($70M)$437MChange in cashΔ cash
6%5%6%5%6%6%5%5%5%5%5%ROICROIC
13%10%14%14%14%20%12%12%12%12%10%Return on equityROE
5%2%5%5%5%13%4%5%Retained to equityRetained/eq
Balance sheet
$235M$182M$153M$140M$32M$452M$164M$227M$103M$509M$241MCash & investmentsCash+inv
$821M$1.0B$964M$886M$853M$931M$1.6B$1.0BReceivablesReceiv.
$598M$725M$723M$622M$661M$875M$928M$679MAccounts payablePayables
$223M$307M$241M$264M$192M$56M$636M$330MOperating working capitalOper. WC
$2.3B$2.5B$2.5B$2.3B$2.4B$2.6B$3.4B$2.8B$2.8B$3.5B$2.9BCurrent assetsCur. assets
$2.7B$2.8B$2.6B$2.7B$3.1B$2.2B$3.0B$2.9B$3.5B$3.5B$3.1BCurrent liabilitiesCur. liab.
0.9×0.9×0.9×0.9×0.8×1.2×1.2×1.0×0.8×1.0×0.9×Current ratioCurr. ratio
$15.7B$16.8B$18.1B$18.9B$21.0B$22.4B$22.7B$25.1B$27.5B$30.7BNet PP&ENet PP&E
$2.1B$1.8B$1.8B$2.5B$2.7B$2.3B$3.7B$3.9B$3.8B$3.5BRegulatory assetsReg. assets
$2.1B$3.8B$3.8B$3.8B$3.9B$3.9B$3.9B$4.0B$4.2B$4.2BRegulatory liabilitiesReg. liab.
$21.6B$23.1B$24.5B$26.8B$29.7B$28.8B$31.4B$33.5B$35.9B$39.9B$40.9BTotal assetsAssets
$9.5B$10.2B$11.6B$13.1B$12.3B$12.4B$14.2B$15.5B$16.4B$18.8B$19.0BTotal debtDebt
$9.3B$10.0B$11.4B$12.9B$12.3B$12.0B$14.0B$15.3B$16.3B$18.2B$18.8BNet debt / (cash)Net debt
$435M$438M$458M$460M$505M$500M$519M$643M$708M$789M$817MInterest expenseInt. exp.
2.9×3.1×2.5×2.4×2.4×2.3×2.4×1.9×2.1×2.2×2.0×Interest coverageInt. cov.
$37M$37M$37M$37M$581M$557M$580M$581M$518M$567MNoncontrolling interestsNCI
$4.3B$4.4B$4.8B$5.0B$5.5B$6.6B$7.0B$7.5B$8.2B$9.1B$9.8BShareholders’ equityEquity
Per share
279M281M283M284M286M290M290M292M298M301M309MShares out (diluted)Shares
$22.94$23.44$24.29$23.30$22.42$25.32$29.64$25.58$25.19$28.37$28.53Revenue / shareRev/sh
$1.98$1.64$2.32$2.39$2.64$4.67$2.89$3.04$3.36$3.56$3.32EPS (diluted)EPS
$2.93$2.93$2.72$2.82$0.81$2.44$-0.93Owner earnings / shareOE/sh
$-0.15$0.14$-1.31$-1.08$-3.62$-0.89$-5.24Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh
$1.24$1.34$1.44$1.53$1.63$1.76$1.88$1.85Dividends / shareDiv/sh
$5.99$5.93$7.33$7.38$8.07$7.17$8.19Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh
$15.25$15.82$16.81$17.65$19.20$22.91$24.19$25.86$27.59$30.38$31.64Book value / shareBVPS
Per-share growththe realized rate an owner's share compounded
9-yr5-yr
Revenue / share+2.4%/yr+4.8%/yr
EPS+6.8%/yr+6.2%/yr
Dividends / share+7.1%/yr (6-yr)+7.0%/yr
Capital spending / share+5.3%/yr (6-yr)+6.7%/yr
Book value / share+8.0%/yr+9.6%/yr

Where the cash went

ReinvestBuybacksDividendsAcquisitionsRetained

Each year's operating cash, by what management did with it: the mix, and how it drifts.

FY2016FY2025

Net income is the accountant's number; owner earnings is the cash an owner could take out. The walk between them, off the cash-flow statement, and whether the gap is widening or holding.

In fiscal 2022 the business earned ($271M) of owner earnings, the operating cash left after the $1.1B it takes just to hold its position. It put $1.2B more into growth; free cash flow, after that spending, was ($1.5B).

FY2022FY2021FY2020FY2019FY2018
Reported net income$837M$1.4B$755M$680M$657M
Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back+$1.1B+$1.1B+$1.0B+$989M+$933M
Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items−$1.1B−$648M−$522M+$121M+$113M
Cash from operations$855M$1.8B$1.3B$1.8B$1.7B
Maintenance capital expenditurethe spending needed just to hold position and volume−$1.1B−$1.1B−$1.0B−$989M−$933M
Owner earnings($271M)$705M$233M$801M$770M
Growth capital expenditurediscretionary; spent to get bigger, not to stand still−$1.2B−$962M−$1.3B−$1.1B−$1.1B
Free cash flow($1.5B)($257M)($1.0B)($307M)($371M)
Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue-3%10%4%12%11%

Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position (here about $1.1B, roughly its depreciation, the rate its assets wear out). The other $1.2B of its capital spending is growth it chose, not upkeep it owed; charged only with the maintenance it must do, the business earns well more than the year's free cash flow shows.

Much of fiscal 2022's profit didn't arrive as operating cash; it sits in “working capital & other” above. That can be a real inventory or timing swing, or profit that doesn't run through operating cash at all: a heavy tax year, equity-method earnings, or investment income booked through investing. For a year like this, owner earnings understates the cash earned; the full cash-flow statement carries the rest.

A regulated utility reads differently here. What it spends above depreciation goes into rate base, where the commission lets it earn the allowed return and recover the capital, with interest, over decades — growth that is financed, not taken out of owners' pockets this year. So the truth sits between the bridge's two ends: owner earnings excuses the build-out entirely, free cash flow charges it entirely, and the scorecard's utility-plant figure shows how fast the base earning that return is compounding.

Maintenance capex is estimated as depreciation where a growing business invests above it; free cash flow is the figure the scorecard's free-cash margin reads.

III

Quality & stewardship

Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.

Owner’s Scorecard

FY2025 10-K · source on SEC EDGAR →

The allowed return, earned and credited

  • Earning the allowed return
    Median over 10 readable years · latest FY2025: 11.7% (net income $1.1B ÷ equity $9.1B)
    What this means

    A commission caps what a regulated utility may earn on shareholders' capital, so the question is not whether the return is high but whether the company actually earns what it is allowed — persistent under-earning means costs the regulator will not put in rates, and a return above the band usually means unregulated businesses in the mix. Read through the record, because a single year carries rate-case timing noise.

  • AFUDC in earnings
    Not enough data
    What this means

    The equity allowance for funds used during construction is not tagged in this filer's structured data — the construction credit, if any, lives in the 10-K's rate-matters note.

The invested base and the regulatory ledger

  • Net utility plant
    Not enough data
    What this means

    No undimensioned utility-plant figure is tagged in this filer's structured data.

  • Regulatory assets & liabilities $3.5B / $4.2B
    Owes ratepayers
    Regulatory assets $3.5B · regulatory liabilities $4.2B · net $717M liability position, as filed
    What this means

    The ledger of the regulatory relationship: assets are costs the commission has agreed the utility may collect from ratepayers in future rates, liabilities are amounts it must give back. Both are promises whose worth depends entirely on the commissions that made them — which is why they are shown as filed and never netted into earnings adjustments here.

Graham’s defensive tests · 3 of 5 met

Graham’s numerical criteria for the defensive investor (The Intelligent Investor, ch. 14), run on the filings. A floor of safety, not a buy signal; many fine modern businesses fail his strictest liquidity rules by design.

  • Adequate size Pass
    Revenue ≥ $2B · $8.5B
    What this means

    Big enough to weather a storm. Graham's 1972 floor was ~$100M of sales (≈ $700M today); we use a $2B revenue line as a conservative modern stand-in.

  • Strong liquidity
    Current ratio ≥ 2× (waived for utilities) · exempt
    What this means

    Graham exempted public utilities from this test: their working capital “takes care of itself” through the continuous bond-and-share financing of growth, so a thin current ratio is the industry's structure, not a warning. His substitute test — debt no more than twice book equity — is the next line.

  • Conservative debt Near
    Debt ≤ 2× equity (Graham's utility test) · $18.8B vs $9.1B equity
    What this means

    Graham's own substitution for public utilities: debt not exceeding twice the stock equity at book value, in place of the working-capital tests an industrial faces. A utility finances its plant with bonds by design; the question is whether the borrowing stays inside the equity behind it.

  • Earnings stability Pass
    A profit every year (10-yr record) · no losses
    What this means

    Graham wanted earnings in each of the past ten years, the stability a defensive owner leans on.

  • Dividend record Miss
    Uninterrupted dividends · 7 of 10 yrs
    What this means

    An unbroken dividend was Graham's mark of durability. He wanted twenty years; the filings show about ten, and a single suspension breaks the streak. Non-payers, many fine modern compounders, fall outside his defensive net by design.

  • Earnings growth Pass
    Earnings +33% over the record · +78%
    What this means

    At least a third more earnings than a decade ago, averaging three years at each end. Net income (not per-share), so stock splits don't distort it, buybacks and dilution show up in the share-count line instead.

  • Moderate price
    P/E ≤ 15 and P/E × P/B ≤ 22.5 · decided by the price
    What this means

    Graham's valuation gate, the wall he kept between a sound business and a sound investment. Three-year average earnings are $3.15/share (latest year $3.42), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $29.16/share. Enter a price in “What the price implies” just below for the P/E, P/B, and whether it clears. But this is the rule Buffett outgrew: there's no hard P/E law, and a wonderful business can deserve a far richer multiple if the thesis holds, treat it as the bargain-hunter's floor, not a verdict on the price.

Durability & moat, 2016–2025

Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.

  • Profitable years 10 of 10
    What this means

    Never lost money over the record, the earnings stability Graham insisted on.

  • Return on capital ≥ 15% 0 of 10 yrs
    What this means

    A moat shows up as a high return on invested capital that holds year after year, not one good vintage.

  • Operating margin 19% → 19% (3-yr avg ends)
    What this means

    Through the cycle the operating margin held roughly steady — about 19% early, 19% lately, median 17%.

  • Reinvestment, incremental ROIC 4%
    What this means

    Reinvested capital came back at only a modest incremental return — near the cost of capital, where extra growth adds little per dollar. The record shows whether it is a soft stretch or a thinning moat.

  • Owner earnings growth −20%/yr
    What this means

    Owner earnings shrank about 20% a year over the record.

  • Worst year 2022 · 14.2% op. margin
    What this means

    Stayed profitable even in its hardest year, the resilience that survives recessions.

  • Share count +0.9%/yr
    What this means

    Roughly flat share count, little dilution, little buyback.

  • Dividend record rising
    What this means

    Paid and raised the dividend across the record, the continuity Graham prized.

All figures as filed; the source filing is linked above.

Current Position

as of the latest quarter, Jun 30, 2026

Can the business pay what it owes this year, off the freshest balance sheet: the quality of the assets, the debt actually coming due, and what a low ratio means here.

Current assets$2.9B
  • Cash & short-term investments$241M
  • Receivables$1.0B
  • Other current assets$1.6B
Current liabilities$3.1B
  • Debt due within a year$864M
  • Accounts payable$679M
  • Other current liabilities$1.5B
Current ratio0.94×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×
Quick ratio0.94×stricter: inventory excluded
Cash ratio0.08×strictest: cash alone against what's due
Working capital($197M)the cushion left after near-term bills
Debt due this year vs. cash$864M due · $241M cash cash alone won't cover the maturities; it leans on refinancing or operating cash · both figures from the Jun 30, 2026 balance sheet
Revenue, latest quarter vs. a year ago−0.5%the freshest read on whether the business is still growing
Current ratio, recent quarters1.2× → 0.9×
Deeper floors
Tangible book value$9.8Bequity stripped of goodwill & intangibles
Debt incl. operating leases$19.1B$22M of it operating leases

From the company's latest filing.

Not how much it owes, but when it falls due, and against what. The ladder the company files, beside cash on hand and a year's owner earnings.

'29$600M
'30$700M
'31$500M
'32$95M

Bars scaled to the largest single year.

Due in the next 12 months$600Mthe first rung: what must be repaid or rolled over within the year
Within two years$1.3Bthe near wall, the part most exposed to today’s credit conditions
Biggest single year$700Min 2030the lumpiest maturity, where a refinancing, if needed, is largest
Due over the next five years$1.9Bthe near slice; the balance sheet carries $18.8B of debt in all

Against what the business has and earns

Cash & short-term investments, Jun 30, 2026$241M
Together, against $600M due next year0.40×

Cash on hand as of Jun 30, 2026 comes to $241M against the $600M due in the twelve months after the Dec 31, 2025 schedule: about 40% of it, so the near maturities lean on refinancing or the rest of the year’s cash.

Maturity schedule extracted from the company’s Dec 31, 2025 annual report and reconciled to the balance-sheet debt.

How the cash was used, 2016–2022

Over the record, the business generated $10.8B of operating cash; how management split it reads as a reinvestor, most operating cash is plowed back into the business.

  • Reinvested$14.3B · 132%
  • Dividends$3.1B · 29%
  • Returned to owners$3.1B

    80% of the owner earnings the business produced over the span, $3.1B as dividends and $0 as buybacks.

  • Source of funding−$6.6B

    Reinvestment and shareholder returns ran $6.6B beyond the operating cash the business generated, so the gap was financed off the balance sheet: debt rose from $9.5B to $19.0B.

  • Net change in share count10.8%

    The diluted count rose from 279M to 309M: issuance (stock pay, deals) outran any buybacks, so owners were diluted on net.

  • Dividend record$1.88/sh

    Paid in 7 of the years on record, the per-share dividend growing about 7% a year. It was never cut over the span.

  • Return on what it retained−26%

    Of the earnings it kept rather than paid out ($2.2B over the span), annual owner earnings (first three years vs last three) fell $582M, so each retained $1 gave back about 0.26 of yearly owner earnings. Buffett's test, run on owner earnings instead of market value.

Buybacks are gross of stock issued to staff; the share-count line above is the net of that, the figure that decides whether owners gained. The average price paid blends a year of purchases (and any accelerated repurchase), so it is close, not exact. The record of where the cash went and on what terms.

Management, ownership & pay

read the proxy →

From the proxy: how much of the business the people running it own, and how they are paid, beside what the business earned for its owners in the same years.

Fiscal yearChief executivePay, as filed“Actually paid”Net income
2021Rochow$6.9M$7.7M$1.4B
2022Rochow$8.7M$8.2M$837M
2023Rochow$9.6M$9.6M$887M
2024Rochow$10.4M$15.6M$1.0B
2025Rochow$10.5M$12.3M$1.1B

Both pay figures are the company’s own, from the pay-versus-performance table its proxy statement files. “As filed” is the Summary Compensation Table total: salary, bonus, and equity awards at their value on the day of grant. “Actually paid” is the SEC’s prescribed recalculation, which re-marks those equity awards to what they became as they vested; it can swing far above or below the filed figure in either direction, and negative years occur. Net income is the whole business's, as filed, for the same fiscal years.

    What an owner would ask, FY2025

    read the 10-K →
    • Which reported numbers are a judgment call?
      Management names Pension & retirement, Income taxes, Stock compensation, Contingencies as critical estimates

      each rests partly on management's judgment; the filing's note sets out the assumptionsverify →

    The questions the record and the charts do not answer on their own; each carries the figure and the place to look.

    Peers, Multi-Utilities

    The same industry, side by side on owner economics. Each column names the period it is read over; the group median at the foot is the line to read each figure against.

    CompanyRevenuelatest FY, USDROEmedian over the recordPlant growthannualized over the recordDividend / cashmedian over the record
    XELXcel Energy Inc.$14.7B10%25%
    PEGPublic Service Enterprise Group Inc$12.2B11%4.1%32%
    WECWEC Energy Group Inc.$9.8B11%33%
    AEEAmeren Corporation$8.8B10%24%
    CMSCMS Energy Corporation$8.5B13%24%
    NINiSource Inc$6.5B8%9.1%27%
    EVRGEvergy$6.0B8%14.5%29%
    LNTAlliant Energy$4.4B11%8.0%57%
    Group median11%28%
    IV

    The price

    What a price has to assume.

    What the price implies

    reverse-DCF

    Type today's close and see the owner-earnings growth you'd have to believe to justify it, beside what CMS Energy Corporation has delivered.

    CMS Energy Corporation’s latest year runs above its own through-cycle margin — the reported figure may flatter a peak. So the tool opens on the through-cycle base, Graham’s averaging cutting both ways; clear the toggle below to read the latest year exactly as reported.

    $

    Through the cycle, CMS Energy Corporation earns about $957M on its 11.2% median owner-earnings margin. This year’s — margin runs in line with that. Normalize, below, values the price on that through-cycle figure rather than the latest year.

    Base

    The assumptions

    9.0% = the 4.68% 10-year Treasury (Jul 30, 2026) + 4.32 points of equity premium. The rate you require is yours to set.

    Enter a price above to run it.

    Implied by the price
    Owner-earnings growth · ’18→’22−28%/yr
    Owner-earnings growth, delivered
    Owner-earnings yield
    P/E (3-yr earnings ’23–’25)
    P/B
    Graham’s price gate

    Graham capped the multiple at 15×; Buffett and Munger let that rule go: a wonderful business can deserve 50× if the thesis holds. The gate marks the bargain-hunter's floor.

    Against a high-grade bond: Graham’s yardstick bond yield%

    Prefilled with the 10-year Treasury (4.68%, as of Jul 30, 2026). Edit it for today’s exact figure, or a AAA corporate yield.

    Graham measured a stock against the bond you could own instead, the heart of his margin of safety. Enter a price above to weigh the owner-earnings yield against this bond.

    Owner earnings — on 314M shares outstanding, per the 10-Q cover, as of 2026-07-13; net debt $18.8B. The base opens on the through-cycle figure (the latest year sits off the record’s own median, and Graham’s averaging cuts both ways); clear Normalize to use the year as filed. Net of stock comp treats option pay as the expense it is. The dials set the multiple a growth belief justifies; the price, and every dollar on this page, is yours.

    Cite: Owner Scorecard, "CMS Energy Corporation (CMS), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/CMS, data as of 2026-07-18.

    Manual order: ← CMPR its page in the Manual CMSA →

    Industry order: ← AVA the Multi-Utilities chapter CMSA →