Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Sees Large Volume Increase

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,198,700 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 22% from the previous session’s volume of 983,220 shares.The stock last traded at $44.03 and had previously closed at $43.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on POR shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Portland General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.13.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.63. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.56.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.12. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $828.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 21st. This is a boost from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.80%.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In related news, SVP Maria Angelica Espinosa sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.30, for a total transaction of $88,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $742,600.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Maria Angelica Espinosa sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.30, for a total value of $88,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $742,600.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Benjamin Felton sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $142,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,297,170. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,940 shares of company stock valued at $248,313. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Portland General Electric

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in POR. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 181.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities.