Sciencast Management LP Purchases New Stake in Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR)

Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POR. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 26,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 151.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in Portland General Electric by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of POR stock opened at $43.73 on Friday. Portland General Electric has a one year low of $40.05 and a one year high of $49.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.80 and its 200 day moving average is $45.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $824.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 66.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on POR. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (down from $52.00) on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Portland General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joseph R. Trpik, Jr. sold 1,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.32, for a total transaction of $56,815.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,320,587.20. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.