Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.65.

Several research firms have weighed in on POR. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets set a $52.00 price target on Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Portland General Electric from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th.

Portland General Electric Stock Down 5.6%

POR opened at $44.22 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.55. Portland General Electric has a 52 week low of $42.58 and a 52 week high of $54.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.51.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last posted 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). Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 7.27%.The business had revenue of $814.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.75 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 25th. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is 96.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total value of $79,662.71. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $779,782.35. The trade was a 9.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portland General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in POR. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings 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 period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 8.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,019,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,810,000 after acquiring an additional 372,165 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $222,824,000 after acquiring an additional 4,321,305 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,805,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,680,000 after acquiring an additional 73,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 2,654,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,402,000 after acquiring an additional 576,275 shares in the last quarter.

Portland General Electric Company Profile

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, purchases, transmits, distributes and sells electricity in Oregon. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and other customers, offering electric delivery and related energy services across its service territory.

Founded in 1889, Portland General Electric is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and serves communities in the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley, among other parts of the state.