Reasons To Add Portland General Electric (POR) In Portfolio

Earnings estimates for Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) (NYSE:POR) have moved up 2.95% and 4.71% to $2.44 and $2.56 per share for 2019 and 2020 on a year-over-year basis, respectively.

Portland General Electric engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon.

Let’s focus on the factors that make Portland General Electric an appropriate investment option at the moment.

Price Movement

In the past 12 months, Portland General Electric’s shares have rallied 27.5% compared with the industry’s rise of 11.1%.

Earnings & Surprise History

The company delivered fourth-quarter 2018 operating earnings of 55 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. The company’s average four-quarter positive earnings surprise is 13.01%.

Long-Term Growth & Dividend Yield

The company’s long-term (3 to 5 years) earnings growth is pegged at 4.10%.

Currently, the company has a dividend yield of 2.81% compared with the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 1.94%.

Debt/Capital

The company’s current debt to capital ratio is pegged at 46.50% compared with the industry’s 50.55%.

Renewable Energy Focus

The company focuses on reducing carbon emission and has chosen renewable sources like solar, wind and water to generate cleaner energy. Portland General Electric’s aims to lower GHG emissions by more than 80% by 2050. The company plans to invest $2,735 million over 2019-2023, which includes the plan to add 100 megawatt of wind generation at Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Portland General Electric currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are IDACORP, Inc (NYSE:IDA) , The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) and Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (TO:AQN) , each holding a Zacks Rank of 2.

IDACORP pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 9.60% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 4%

The Southern Company pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 7.85% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 4.50%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 22.48% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 10.40%.

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