State Street Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Portland General Electric Company $POR

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased: State Street raised its Portland General Electric stake by 8.0% to 5.02 million shares, while BlackRock and several other major investors also expanded their positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: POR has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $51.15. The stock opened at $46.91, while the company’s latest quarterly earnings and revenue came in slightly below expectations.
• Dividend yield is attractive but payout is high: Portland General Electric declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5513 per share, equivalent to a 4.7% yield and a 96.92% payout ratio.

State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Free Report) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,019,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 372,165 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 4.27% of Portland General Electric worth $262,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 7.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,719,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $970,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,219 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Portland General Electric by 1,342.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,643,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $222,824,000 after buying an additional 4,321,305 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Portland General Electric by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,805,796 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $134,680,000 after buying an additional 73,185 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 2,654,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,402,000 after buying an additional 576,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 31.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,329,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $120,750,000 after buying an additional 553,570 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Portland General Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Portland General Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $48.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $52.00 target price on Portland General Electric in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.15.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

POR stock opened at $46.91 on Thursday. Portland General Electric Company has a 52 week low of $42.58 and a 52 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.51.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.75 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 7.27%.The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. Portland General Electric's payout ratio is presently 96.92%.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In other Portland General Electric news, Director Michael Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 15,045 shares in the company, valued at $779,782.35. This represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric Company NYSE: POR is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, purchases, transmits, distributes and sells electricity in Oregon. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and other customers, offering electric delivery and related energy services across its service territory.

Founded in 1889, Portland General Electric is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and serves communities in the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley, among other parts of the state.

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