Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Portland General Electric has a consensus “Hold” rating from 10 brokerages: seven recommend holding the stock and three recommend buying it. The average 12-month price target is $51.25, compared with a recent price of $49.81.
• The utility slightly missed quarterly expectations, reporting $0.64 in EPS versus the $0.65 consensus and revenue of $814 million versus estimates of $839.75 million. Revenue still increased 0.9% year over year.
• Portland General Electric declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5513 per share, equal to an annualized $2.21 payout and a 4.4% yield; its dividend payout ratio is high at 96.92%.

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.25.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on POR shares. Zacks Research raised Portland General Electric from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets set a $52.00 price objective on shares of 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 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Portland General Electric from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd.

Portland General Electric Trading Down 0.8%

POR stock opened at $49.81 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.30. Portland General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $54.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.75 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 7.27%.Portland General Electric's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. Portland General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 96.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Portland General Electric

In related news, Director Michael A. Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total value of $79,662.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,045 shares in the company, valued at $779,782.35. The trade was a 9.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 272.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 719 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 61.7% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter.

Portland General Electric Company Profile

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.

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