Scharf Investments LLC Has $3.58 Million Position in Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR)

Scharf Investments LLC lifted its stake in Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,516 shares during the quarter. Portland General Electric accounts for 0.1% of Scharf Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC owned about 0.08% of Portland General Electric worth $3,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of POR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Portland General Electric by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,146,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,069,000 after acquiring an additional 212,981 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Portland General Electric by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,524,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $196,089,000 after buying an additional 1,017,503 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,758,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,575,000 after acquiring an additional 161,432 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Portland General Electric by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,966,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,238,000 after acquiring an additional 100,496 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Portland General Electric by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,420,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,554,000 after buying an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter.

Portland General Electric Stock Down 0.3 %

POR stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $47.27. The company had a trading volume of 682,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,060. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 0.58. Portland General Electric has a 52 week low of $38.01 and a 52 week high of $48.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $758.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.43 million. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Portland General Electric will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 76.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Portland General Electric

In other news, COO Benjamin Felton sold 1,886 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $90,528.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,142 shares in the company, valued at $1,446,816. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Benjamin Felton sold 1,886 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $90,528.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,446,816. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Teeruk Kochavatr sold 1,100 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.25, for a total value of $50,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,527.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

POR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp raised Portland General Electric from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.86.

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.