Nuance Investments LLC Increases Stake in Portland General Electric Company $POR

Key Points

• Nuance Investments increased its Portland General Electric stake by 113.6% in the second quarter, adding 145,928 shares to own 274,376 shares valued at approximately $14.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with three Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings producing an overall “Hold” consensus and an average price target of $51.25.
• Portland General Electric reported quarterly EPS of $0.64, slightly below estimates, while revenue of $814 million also missed forecasts. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5513, equivalent to a 4.3% annualized yield.

Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Free Report) by 113.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,376 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 145,928 shares during the quarter. Portland General Electric accounts for 2.4% of Nuance Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Portland General Electric worth $14,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POR. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 1,342.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,643,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $222,824,000 after acquiring an additional 4,321,305 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Portland General Electric by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,719,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $970,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,219 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,497,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,551,731 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $170,448,000 after buying an additional 1,054,450 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 514.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 883,162 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,383,000 after buying an additional 739,404 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on POR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price target on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $52.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Portland General Electric

In other news, Director Michael A. Lewis sold 1,537 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total transaction of $79,662.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,045 shares of the company's stock, valued at $779,782.35. The trade was a 9.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:POR opened at $50.83 on Tuesday. Portland General Electric Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $54.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $51.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.33.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $814.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.75 million. Portland General Electric's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be given a $0.5513 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Portland General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.92%.

Portland General Electric 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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