Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Rating Lowered to “Sector Weight” at KeyCorp

KeyCorp cut shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $51.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on POR. Barclays decreased their price target on Portland General Electric from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Portland General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.45.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE POR opened at $41.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.83. Portland General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $40.05 and a fifty-two week high of $49.85.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.02). Portland General Electric had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $928.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Portland General Electric’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Portland General Electric will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. This is a positive change from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 73.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Benjamin Felton sold 1,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total value of $79,371.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,404,430.92. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Joseph R. Trpik, Jr. sold 1,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.32, for a total value of $56,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,320,587.20. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,795 shares of company stock valued at $159,946. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 260.6% during the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 114,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,096,000 after buying an additional 82,743 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 141,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,166,000 after buying an additional 5,084 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 322,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,076,000 after buying an additional 4,195 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 93,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,071,000 after buying an additional 9,715 shares during the period.

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.