Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Director Michael Lewis Sells 1,537 Shares of Stock

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) Director Michael Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total transaction of $79,662.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,045 shares in the company, valued at $779,782.35. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:POR opened at $51.21 on Wednesday. Portland General Electric Company has a 12 month low of $40.81 and a 12 month high of $54.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $51.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.32.

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

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.5513 dividend. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 98.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portland General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,662,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Portland General Electric by 18.8% during the first quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 127,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,728,000 after buying an additional 20,147 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in Portland General Electric by 683.5% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 43,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,077,000 after buying an additional 37,758 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Portland General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $897,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Portland General Electric by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 799,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,351,000 after buying an additional 203,400 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on POR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Friday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Portland General Electric from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Portland General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price target on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Portland General Electric presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $50.90.

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.