HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Purchases 576,275 Shares of Portland General Electric Company $POR

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,654,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 576,275 shares during the quarter. Portland General Electric comprises about 8.2% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $127,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of POR. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Portland General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Portland General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 272.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

POR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price target on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Portland General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In other news, VP Juan Diego Gallegos sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $133,842.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph R. Trpik, Jr. sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $367,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,563,909.91. This trade represents a 19.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:POR opened at $50.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Portland General Electric Company has a fifty-two week low of $39.54 and a fifty-two week high of $54.62. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.59.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 7.12%.The company had revenue of $879.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $953.24 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.5513 per share. 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. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.75%.

About Portland General Electric

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.