Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Portland General Electric Company $POR

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 308,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,500 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $14,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Portland General Electric by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 161,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,222,000 after acquiring an additional 11,141 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Portland General Electric by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 61,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Portland General Electric by 465.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 151,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,741,000 after acquiring an additional 124,410 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Portland General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $271,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Portland General Electric by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 233,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,420,000 after acquiring an additional 13,799 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Juan Diego Gallegos sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $133,842.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 12,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $590,221.09. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert N. Hoglund acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.80 per share, with a total value of $97,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,519 shares in the company, valued at $122,927.20. This trade represents a 385.36% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Portland General Electric Stock Performance

Portland General Electric stock opened at $49.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.57. Portland General Electric Company has a 1-year low of $39.54 and a 1-year high of $54.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.52.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $953.24 million. Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.5513 per share. This represents a $2.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. This is an increase from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 98.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on POR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price target on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Portland General Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) is an investor-owned electric utility headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, with roots tracing back to the late 19th century. The company generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers across a broad territory in Oregon, primarily encompassing the Portland metropolitan area and surrounding regions.

As one of Oregon’s largest electric utilities, Portland General Electric operates a diverse portfolio of generation assets, including hydroelectric facilities, natural gas–fired plants and renewable energy sources.