Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research cut shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:PORFree Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on POR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price target on Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Portland General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $51.00.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of POR opened at $52.62 on Monday. Portland General Electric has a 12-month low of $39.73 and a 12-month high of $54.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.86.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:PORGet Free Report) last announced 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). Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The company had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $953.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Portland General Electric will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is 98.21%.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In other Portland General Electric news, Director Robert N. Hoglund bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $48.80 per share, for a total transaction of $97,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,519 shares in the company, valued at $122,927.20. This trade represents a 385.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Juan Diego Gallegos sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $590,221.09. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Portland General Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 35,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in Portland General Electric by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Portland General Electric by 2.0% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Portland General Electric by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Hill Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 39,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period.

Portland General Electric Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR)

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