Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 20,147 Shares of Portland General Electric Company $POR

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) by 18.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 127,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,147 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $6,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 1,342.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,643,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,321,305 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $56,497,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Portland General Electric by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,551,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,450 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 514.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 883,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,383,000 after purchasing an additional 739,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 99.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,385,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,974,000 after purchasing an additional 690,743 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Juan Diego Gallegos sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $133,842.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 12,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $590,221.09. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joseph R. Trpik, Jr. sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $367,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,563,909.91. The trade was a 19.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on POR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Portland General Electric Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:POR opened at $52.48 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.13 and its 200 day moving average is $50.66. Portland General Electric Company has a 12-month low of $39.73 and a 12-month high of $54.62. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.19). Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The company had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $953.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 25th. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.21%.

Portland General Electric Company 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.