Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,110,000 shares, a decline of 21.9% from the November 15th total of 3,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 947,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Portland General Electric Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE POR traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $44.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,263,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,046. Portland General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $39.13 and a fifty-two week high of $49.85. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.09 and its 200 day moving average is $46.31.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 10.30%. The firm had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $882.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Portland General Electric will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.70%.

Institutional Trading of Portland General Electric

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 1.6% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,062,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,902,000 after acquiring an additional 17,021 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 114.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 153,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,289,000 after acquiring an additional 81,701 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 53.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 14,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 4,936 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 20.2% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,444,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,114,000 after acquiring an additional 25,332 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Portland General Electric in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on Portland General Electric from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America began coverage on Portland General Electric in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Portland General Electric from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.13.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities.