Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Increases Dividend to $0.50 Per Share

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 19th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. This is a positive change from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Portland General Electric has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Portland General Electric has a dividend payout ratio of 58.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Portland General Electric to earn $3.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.0%.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:POR opened at $42.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.57. Portland General Electric has a 12 month low of $38.01 and a 12 month high of $51.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.40.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.20). Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 7.80%. The company had revenue of $725.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Portland General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Portland General Electric will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

POR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Portland General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America lowered shares of Portland General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Benjamin Felton sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $142,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,297,170. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portland General Electric

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IMA Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 100.0% in the second quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Portland General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 4,233.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 136.2% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 359.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter.

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.