Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday. 1,847,803 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 1,339,028 shares. The stock last traded at $44.5730 and had previously closed at $43.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Portland General Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Portland General Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Portland General Electric from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.50.

Portland General Electric Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.51. The company has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.75 million. Portland General Electric had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 7.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Portland General Electric Company will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Portland General Electric news, Director Michael Lewis sold 1,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total value of $79,662.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $779,782.35. The trade was a 9.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portland General Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of POR. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Portland General Electric by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Portland General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 426.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Portland General Electric by 86.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter.

Portland General Electric Company Profile

Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, purchases, transmits, distributes and sells electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company also offers energy-management programs, renewable energy options and other services designed to support energy efficiency and electrification.

PGE serves communities throughout the state of Oregon, including the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley. Its operations include a diverse portfolio of power generation resources, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and programs supporting the integration of renewable energy and electric vehicles.

The company traces its history to the development of electric service in Oregon in the late 19th century.