Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Stake Cut by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 220,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 32,647 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $9,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of POR. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $1,392,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Portland General Electric by 59.6% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $221,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 144,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,258,000 after purchasing an additional 15,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Portland General Electric by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of POR stock opened at $43.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.57. Portland General Electric has a 1-year low of $38.01 and a 1-year high of $51.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.47.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $725.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.21 million. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 7.21%. Portland General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Portland General Electric will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. This is a positive change from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on POR shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Portland General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group raised Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Portland General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In other news, COO Benjamin Felton sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $142,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,297,170. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Portland General Electric Profile

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.