Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Makes New Investment in Vistra Corp. $VST

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VST. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth $4,610,496,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth about $746,729,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Vistra by 95.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 177,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,638,000 after buying an additional 86,393 shares during the last quarter. Payden & Rygel raised its position in shares of Vistra by 3,118.2% during the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,711,000 after buying an additional 34,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,875,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 price target on Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $226.00.

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 232,200 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,368,825.60. This trade represents a 25.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $142.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $154.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.11. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $132.66 and a fifty-two week high of $219.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06 and a beta of 1.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.54%.

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.