Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 684,150 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,623 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.20% of Vistra worth $132,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 10.3% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 38,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,390,000 after purchasing an additional 913,350 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $387,000. Finally, JT Stratford LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at about $266,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (down from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.20.

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.86, for a total transaction of $9,456,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 306,600 shares in the company, valued at $51,772,476. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $10,183,556.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 218,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,137,265.25. This represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 868,339 shares of company stock valued at $173,242,584 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST stock opened at $167.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.39. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.37.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.04%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.227 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.49%.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.