Portland General Electric Company $POR Stake Boosted by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 264,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,775 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $13,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of POR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,020,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $624,857,000 after buying an additional 513,517 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,728,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,333,000 after acquiring an additional 156,164 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $222,824,000 after acquiring an additional 4,321,305 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,551,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,450 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,805,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,680,000 after acquiring an additional 73,185 shares during the period.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

Shares of POR opened at $50.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. Portland General Electric Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $54.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.08 and its 200-day moving average is $51.32.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.75 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 7.27%.Portland General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be given a $0.5513 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.92%.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In other Portland General Electric news, Director Michael A. Lewis sold 1,537 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total transaction of $79,662.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $779,782.35. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.50 target price for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Portland General Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.25.

Portland General Electric Profile

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.