Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has $50.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $47.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Portland General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.40.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE POR opened at $42.59 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, 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 quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.24 and a 200-day moving average of $44.04. Portland General Electric has a 52-week low of $40.05 and a 52-week high of $49.85.

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

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Benjamin Felton sold 1,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total transaction of $79,371.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,404,430.92. This represents a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph R. Trpik, Jr. sold 1,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.32, for a total transaction of $56,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,587.20. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,795 shares of company stock valued at $159,946. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portland General Electric

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 62.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 113.1% during the 1st quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter.

About Portland General Electric

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.