Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Director Buys $97,600.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Robert Hoglund bought 2,000 shares of Portland General Electric at $48.80 each, spending a total of $97,600 and increasing his ownership by more than 385%.
• The stock traded slightly higher to $48.52, but the company recently reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 versus $0.77 expected and revenue down 5.3% year over year.
• Portland General Electric raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5513 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 4.5%, though the payout ratio remains high at 93.75%.

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) Director Robert Hoglund acquired 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.80 per share, for a total transaction of $97,600.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,927.20. The trade was a 385.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Portland General Electric Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:POR traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 512,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,280,594. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Portland General Electric Company has a 1 year low of $39.54 and a 1 year high of $54.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.32.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.19). Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 7.12%.The business had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $953.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.4 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be paid a $0.5513 dividend. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. This is a positive change from Portland General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Portland General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 93.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Portland General Electric by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,020,573 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $624,857,000 after purchasing an additional 513,517 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,728,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $229,333,000 after purchasing an additional 156,164 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 1,342.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,643,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $222,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,321,305 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,551,731 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $170,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 23.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,985,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $131,381,000 after purchasing an additional 564,379 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on POR shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Portland General Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Portland General Electric from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price objective on Portland General Electric in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.00.

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.

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