Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 2,343 Shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 424,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,343 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.42% of Portland General Electric worth $18,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Portland General Electric by 7.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 21,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 1,650 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 497,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,148,000 after purchasing an additional 28,436 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 25.0% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 65,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 69.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,040,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,133,000 after buying an additional 425,923 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on POR. StockNews.com upgraded Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Portland General Electric from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Portland General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Portland General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In other Portland General Electric news, VP Brett Michael Sims sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total transaction of $43,363.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $630,239.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,297,170. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brett Michael Sims sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total value of $43,363.89. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,996 shares in the company, valued at approximately $630,239.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,463 shares of company stock valued at $274,064 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:POR traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.72. The stock had a trading volume of 551,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,561. Portland General Electric has a 12-month low of $38.01 and a 12-month high of $50.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.56.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.12. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.51%. The business had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $828.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. This is a boost from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 72.80%.

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.