VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 45,700 Portland General Electric Company $POR

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 45,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of POR. Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 10,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 35,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Hill Wealth Management lifted its position in Portland General Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 39,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,890,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on POR shares. Zacks Research upgraded Portland General Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Portland General Electric from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets set a $52.00 target price on Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Portland General Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.15.

Portland General Electric Stock Down 0.7%

Portland General Electric stock opened at $48.55 on Friday. Portland General Electric Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $54.62. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.75 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 7.27%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a $0.5513 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.92%.

Insider Activity at Portland General Electric

In related news, Director Michael Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total transaction of $79,662.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $779,782.35. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Portland General Electric Company Profile

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, purchases, transmits, distributes and sells electricity in Oregon. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and other customers, offering electric delivery and related energy services across its service territory.

Founded in 1889, Portland General Electric is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and serves communities in the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley, among other parts of the state.