Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) Short Interest Update

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 2,893,929 shares, a drop of 30.3% from the February 12th total of 4,153,933 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,427,761 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Based on an average daily volume of 2,427,761 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on POR shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Portland General Electric from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Portland General Electric from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Portland General Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Portland General Electric currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.17.

Portland General Electric Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of POR stock traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,024,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,517. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Portland General Electric has a 1-year low of $39.54 and a 1-year high of $54.39. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.28 and a 200 day moving average of $47.90.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $889.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $892.31 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 8.56%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Portland General Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.330-3.530 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Portland General Electric will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Portland General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.81%.

Insider Transactions at Portland General Electric

In related news, EVP Benjamin Felton sold 4,969 shares of Portland General Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $266,139.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,200,298.36. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Portland General Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Portland General Electric by 1,342.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,643,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,824,000 after acquiring an additional 4,321,305 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Portland General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $56,497,000. ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. now owns 5,459,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,623 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Portland General Electric by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,551,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Portland General Electric by 514.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 883,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,383,000 after purchasing an additional 739,404 shares during the last quarter.

Portland General Electric Company 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.