Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Short Interest Update

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

Portland General Electric Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE POR traded down $0.23 during trading on Monday, reaching $44.25. 1,263,237 shares of the stock traded hands, 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 quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $47.09 and its 200 day moving average price 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, topping 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 company 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 company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Portland General Electric will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Portland General Electric by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,062,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,902,000 after buying an additional 17,021 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 114.1% in the 3rd 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 increased its position in shares of Portland General Electric by 53.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 25,332 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on Portland General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Portland General Electric from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.