Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Takes $2.07 Million Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,070,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Vistra by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 2,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Vistra by 0.7% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Umpqua Bank raised its position in shares of Vistra by 2.2% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Trading Down 7.8 %

Shares of VST stock opened at $150.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $51.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $160.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.74. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $46.18 and a 1-year high of $199.84.

Vistra declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.2235 per share. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VST shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $206.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.64.

Vistra Profile

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.