Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) announced strong profits, but the stock was stagnant. We did some digging, and we found some concerning factors in the details.

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To understand the value of a company's earnings growth, it is imperative to consider any dilution of shareholders' interests. In fact, Portland General Electric increased the number of shares on issue by 6.3% over the last twelve months by issuing new shares. Therefore, each share now receives a smaller portion of profit. To talk about net income, without noticing earnings per share, is to be distracted by the big numbers while ignoring the smaller numbers that talk to per share value. You can see a chart of Portland General Electric's EPS by clicking here.

A Look At The Impact Of Portland General Electric's Dilution On Its Earnings Per Share (EPS)

As you can see above, Portland General Electric has been growing its net income over the last few years, with an annualized gain of 46% over three years. In comparison, earnings per share only gained 23% over the same period. And over the last 12 months, the company grew its profit by 16%. But in comparison, EPS only increased by 9.2% over the same period. So you can see that the dilution has had a bit of an impact on shareholders.

Changes in the share price do tend to reflect changes in earnings per share, in the long run. So Portland General Electric shareholders will want to see that EPS figure continue to increase. But on the other hand, we'd be far less excited to learn profit (but not EPS) was improving. For the ordinary retail shareholder, EPS is a great measure to check your hypothetical "share" of the company's profit.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Portland General Electric's Profit Performance

Each Portland General Electric share now gets a meaningfully smaller slice of its overall profit, due to dilution of existing shareholders. Therefore, it seems possible to us that Portland General Electric's true underlying earnings power is actually less than its statutory profit. But at least holders can take some solace from the 23% per annum growth in EPS for the last three. At the end of the day, it's essential to consider more than just the factors above, if you want to understand the company properly. So while earnings quality is important, it's equally important to consider the risks facing Portland General Electric at this point in time. For example, Portland General Electric has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Portland General Electric's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. While it might take a little research on your behalf, you may find this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with significant insider holdings to be useful.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.