Scharf Investments LLC Acquires 8,089 Shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR)

Scharf Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 8,089 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC owned 0.09% of Portland General Electric worth $4,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in POR. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Portland General Electric by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 141,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,166,000 after buying an additional 5,084 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Portland General Electric by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 322,686 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,076,000 after buying an additional 4,195 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Portland General Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Portland General Electric by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 44,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,936,000 after buying an additional 10,571 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on POR shares. UBS Group raised Portland General Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Portland General Electric from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.60.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In other news, EVP Benjamin Felton sold 1,845 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total transaction of $79,371.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,404,430.92. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:POR traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.44. 1,313,339 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,047,953. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.57. Portland General Electric Company has a 1-year low of $39.55 and a 1-year high of $49.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.75 and a 200 day moving average of $42.61.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $928.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.02 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 8.84%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. This is an increase from Portland General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Portland General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.94%.

Portland General Electric Profile

Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities.