Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.25.

Several analysts have weighed in on POR shares. Zacks Research raised Portland General Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets set a $52.00 price objective on Portland General Electric in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.50 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th.

Portland General Electric Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE POR opened at $49.11 on Friday. Portland General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $54.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.20. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.51.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.01). Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $814.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Portland General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Portland General Electric will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.5513 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 96.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Portland General Electric news, Director Michael Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total value of $79,662.71. Following the sale, the director owned 15,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $779,782.35. This represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Portland General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Portland General Electric during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Portland General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 272.5% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 55.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) is an investor-owned electric utility headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, with roots tracing back to the late 19th century. The company generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers across a broad territory in Oregon, primarily encompassing the Portland metropolitan area and surrounding regions.

As one of Oregon’s largest electric utilities, Portland General Electric operates a diverse portfolio of generation assets, including hydroelectric facilities, natural gas–fired plants and renewable energy sources.