Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Portland General Electric Company $POR

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 149,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,756,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in POR. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 29.6% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in Portland General Electric by 113.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 274,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,221,000 after buying an additional 145,928 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Portland General Electric by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,719,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $970,240,000 after buying an additional 1,292,219 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Portland General Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,059,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Portland General Electric by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

POR stock opened at $50.18 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.33. Portland General Electric Company has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $54.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $814.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th will be given a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 96.92%.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In related news, Director Michael A. Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total value of $79,662.71. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $779,782.35. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $52.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.50 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.25.

Portland General Electric Profile

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.