Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 268,711 Shares of Portland General Electric Company $POR

Key Points

• Brown Advisory cut its Portland General Electric stake by 26.9% in Q4, selling 268,711 shares and ending with 731,425 shares valued at about $35.1 million.
• Portland General Electric recently reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 versus the $0.77 estimate and revenue of $879 million versus $953.24 million expected.
• The utility raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5513 per share, implying a 4.4% annualized yield, while Wall Street currently rates the stock a consensus Hold with a $51 price target.

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Free Report) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 731,425 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 268,711 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.65% of Portland General Electric worth $35,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Portland General Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Portland General Electric by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 552 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 112.9% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 526 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Juan Diego Gallegos sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $133,842.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 12,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $590,221.09. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert N. Hoglund bought 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $48.80 per share, for a total transaction of $97,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,927.20. This trade represents a 385.36% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on POR shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price objective on Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Portland General Electric from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Portland General Electric Trading Down 0.7%

POR opened at $50.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.52. Portland General Electric Company has a 52 week low of $39.54 and a 52 week high of $54.62. The business's 50 day moving average is $50.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $879.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $953.24 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 7.12%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is a positive change from Portland General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. Portland General Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 93.75%.

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.

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