Portland General Electric Company $POR is HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's Largest Position

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, making POR its largest holding. The fund now owns 2,654,761 shares worth about $127.4 million.
• Portland General Electric reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.58 versus estimates of $0.77 and revenue of $879 million versus expectations of $953.24 million. Revenue fell 5.3% from a year earlier.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5513 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 4.4%. Analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $51.00.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Free Report) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,654,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 576,275 shares during the quarter. Portland General Electric makes up about 8.2% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned about 2.36% of Portland General Electric worth $127,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POR. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 552 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position 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 last quarter.

Portland General Electric Stock Up 1.2%

POR stock opened at $50.65 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.59. Portland General Electric Company has a 12 month low of $39.54 and a 12 month high of $54.62. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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). Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The business had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $953.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on POR. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.00.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In other Portland General Electric news, Director Robert N. Hoglund purchased 2,000 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $48.80 per share, for a total transaction of $97,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,519 shares in the company, valued at $122,927.20. This trade represents a 385.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph R. Trpik, Jr. sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $367,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,563,909.91. This trade represents a 19.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding POR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.