Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Sees Large Volume Increase

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,198,700 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 22% from the previous session's volume of 983,220 shares.The stock last traded at $44.03 and had previously closed at $43.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on POR shares. Mizuho restated a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America cut Portland General Electric from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on Portland General Electric from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group upgraded Portland General Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Portland General Electric from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.60.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.12. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.51%. The company had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $828.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Portland General Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Portland General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. Portland General Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Benjamin Felton sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total value of $142,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,297,170. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Portland General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in POR. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $49,763,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Portland General Electric by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,524,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $196,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,503 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,112,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,040,841 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,133,000 after acquiring an additional 425,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC acquired a new stake in Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,460,000.

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.