Raymond James & Associates Purchases 34,351 Shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR – Get Rating) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,351 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.30% of Portland General Electric worth $13,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 552.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 69,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 58,671 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 35.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,153,000 after acquiring an additional 37,334 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 4.1% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 247,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,778,000 after acquiring an additional 9,664 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 18.2% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 38,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 5,967 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on shares of Portland General Electric from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Portland General Electric from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Monday, May 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.75.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:POR opened at $50.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Portland General Electric has a 1-year low of $41.58 and a 1-year high of $56.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.34.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The business had revenue of $687.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $624.60 million. Research analysts expect that Portland General Electric will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 23rd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. This is an increase from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Portland General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 66.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Portland General Electric

In other news, VP Brett Michael Sims sold 2,050 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $96,350.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,978 shares in the company, valued at $515,966. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Brett Michael Sims sold 2,050 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $96,350.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,978 shares in the company, valued at $515,966. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Teeruk Kochavatr sold 3,000 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $153,360.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 15,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,797.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Portland General Electric Company Profile

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Portland General Electric Co engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. The firm also sells electricity and natural gas in the wholesale market to utilities, brokers, and power marketers. It also serves residential, commercial and non-residential customers.