Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday. Approximately 1,847,803 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 1,339,028 shares. The stock last traded at $44.5730 and had previously closed at $43.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on POR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.50 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered 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, September 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Portland General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.29 and a 200-day moving average of $49.61.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.75 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 7.27%. Portland General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th were issued a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 25th. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.92%.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In other Portland General Electric news, Director Michael Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $779,782.35. This represents a 9.27% 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. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portland General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 10,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 83.9% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during 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 to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company also offers energy-management programs, renewable energy options and other services designed to support energy efficiency and electrification.

PGE serves communities throughout the state of Oregon, including the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley. Its operations include a diverse portfolio of power generation resources, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and programs supporting the integration of renewable energy and electric vehicles.

The company traces its history to the development of electric service in Oregon in the late 19th century.