Strs Ohio Increases Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Strs Ohio grew its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,892 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,988 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Vistra were worth $26,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $746,729,000. Payden & Rygel grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3,118.2% in the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,300 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,875,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Vistra by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,768,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,343,000 after buying an additional 192,274 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 188,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,479,000 after buying an additional 48,378 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, June 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.31.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,152,000. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 70,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE VST opened at $150.98 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $154.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.92. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $50.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were issued a $0.229 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.