Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 65,557 Shares of Portland General Electric Company $POR

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) by 85.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,557 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Portland General Electric were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 683.5% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 43,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 37,758 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 228.9% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 68,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,285,000 after buying an additional 47,644 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,429,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its position in Portland General Electric by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 150,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,218,000 after buying an additional 14,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in Portland General Electric by 287.3% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 30,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after buying an additional 22,700 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on POR. Wells Fargo & Company set a $51.00 price target on Portland General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Portland General Electric Price Performance

NYSE POR opened at $52.61 on Friday. Portland General Electric Company has a one year low of $39.73 and a one year high of $54.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.16 and a 200 day moving average of $50.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Portland General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th will be issued a $0.5513 dividend. This is an increase from Portland General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 25th. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 98.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Portland General Electric Profile

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.