Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.19 EPS

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.19), Briefing.com reports. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 8.56%.The company had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $953.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

Shares of POR stock traded down $2.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,025,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,814. Portland General Electric has a 52-week low of $39.54 and a 52-week high of $54.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.62.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be issued a $0.5513 dividend. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 75.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Portland General Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In other news, EVP Benjamin Felton sold 4,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $266,139.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,200,298.36. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 35,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,706,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 10,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 0.4% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 101,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,118,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter.

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.