Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Short Interest Update

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) saw a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,280,000 shares, a drop of 25.1% from the September 15th total of 4,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 933,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In other news, SVP Maria Angelica Espinosa sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $688,902.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Portland General Electric news, SVP Maria Angelica Espinosa sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.30, for a total value of $120,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,263 shares in the company, valued at $688,902.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Benjamin Felton sold 1,886 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $90,528.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,446,816. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,486 shares of company stock valued at $262,153 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portland General Electric

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in POR. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 40.8% during the third quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 97,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,647,000 after acquiring an additional 28,097 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Portland General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $192,000. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Portland General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, City State Bank purchased a new stake in Portland General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $101,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Portland General Electric in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Portland General Electric from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $49.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp raised Portland General Electric from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.00.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

Shares of Portland General Electric stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.55. 267,309 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 946,053. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.41 and its 200-day moving average is $45.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Portland General Electric has a 52 week low of $39.13 and a 52 week high of $49.45.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $758.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.43 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is 76.63%.

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.