Nuance Investments LLC Sells 89,956 Shares of Portland General Electric Company $POR

Nuance Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 306,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 89,956 shares during the period. Portland General Electric comprises approximately 1.6% of Nuance Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $14,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Portland General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Portland General Electric by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Portland General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Portland General Electric by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Portland General Electric by 272.5% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In other news, Director Robert N. Hoglund purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.80 per share, with a total value of $97,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,519 shares in the company, valued at $122,927.20. This represents a 385.36% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juan Diego Gallegos sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $133,842.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on POR shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:POR opened at $50.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.52. Portland General Electric Company has a twelve month low of $39.54 and a twelve month high of $54.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.55.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $879.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $953.24 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 7.12%.Portland General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. This is a positive change from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 98.21%.

About Portland General Electric

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.