Evercore ISI Begins Coverage on Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR)

Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $54.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on POR. StockNews.com raised shares of Portland General Electric from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays downgraded shares of Portland General Electric from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a hold rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an underperform rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Portland General Electric from a sector weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $46.78.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:POR opened at $48.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Portland General Electric has a 12 month low of $38.01 and a 12 month high of $49.45.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $758.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.43 million. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Portland General Electric will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 76.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Portland General Electric

In related news, VP John Teeruk Kochavatr sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.25, for a total transaction of $50,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,527.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP John Teeruk Kochavatr sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.25, for a total transaction of $50,875.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,527.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Maria Angelica Espinosa sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.30, for a total value of $120,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $688,902.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,486 shares of company stock valued at $262,153. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portland General Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Portland General Electric by 767.2% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Portland General Electric in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Portland General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities.