Scharf Investments LLC Increases Position in Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR)

Scharf Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,089 shares during the quarter. Scharf Investments LLC owned about 0.09% of Portland General Electric worth $4,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,913,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $519,651,000 after purchasing an additional 572,531 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,959,660 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $172,720,000 after purchasing an additional 635,987 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,333,393 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $145,403,000 after purchasing an additional 93,903 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,491,658 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $108,710,000 after purchasing an additional 47,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,306,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $100,598,000 after purchasing an additional 463,685 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on POR. KeyCorp cut Portland General Electric from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Portland General Electric from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on Portland General Electric from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Portland General Electric in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. One research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Portland General Electric news, EVP Benjamin Felton sold 1,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total transaction of $79,371.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,404,430.92. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Portland General Electric Trading Up 1.2%

Portland General Electric stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $41.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,362,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,039,276. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $41.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.57. Portland General Electric Company has a twelve month low of $39.69 and a twelve month high of $49.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.02). The company 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Analysts expect that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. This is a boost from Portland General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Portland General Electric's payout ratio is currently 70.42%.

Portland General Electric Company 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.