Portland General Electric Company $POR Stake Boosted by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) by 38.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,391,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 383,675 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $73,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POR. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 1,342.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,643,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,321,305 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,497,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,551,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,448,000 after buying an additional 1,054,450 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 514.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 883,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,383,000 after buying an additional 739,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Portland General Electric by 99.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,385,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,974,000 after acquiring an additional 690,743 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

POR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 target price on Portland General Electric in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Portland General Electric from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Portland General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $50.90.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In related news, VP Juan Diego Gallegos sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $133,842.50. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert N. Hoglund bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $48.80 per share, for a total transaction of $97,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Portland General Electric Stock Down 1.5%

POR stock opened at $51.25 on Tuesday. 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 $40.81 and a fifty-two week high of $54.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.30. The stock has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.52.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $953.24 million. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is 98.21%.

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.