BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR)

Stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $46.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.02% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on POR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on Portland General Electric from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.45.

Portland General Electric Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of POR stock opened at $42.59 on Tuesday. Portland General Electric has a 12-month low of $40.05 and a 12-month high of $49.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.85. The company has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.57.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $928.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.02 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 9.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Portland General Electric will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph R. Trpik, Jr. sold 1,375 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.32, for a total value of $56,815.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,587.20. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Benjamin Felton sold 1,845 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total transaction of $79,371.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,404,430.92. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,795 shares of company stock valued at $159,946. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 153,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,289,000 after purchasing an additional 81,701 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,553,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Portland General Electric by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 20,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 4,044 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Portland General Electric by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period.

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.