Leonteq Securities AG Takes $6.38 Million Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 39,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,380,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VST. Palidye Holdings Caymans Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $145,987,000. Situational Awareness LP lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 142.3% in the 2nd quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 1,274,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,948,000 after acquiring an additional 748,332 shares during the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 2,072.6% in the 2nd quarter. Moore Capital Management LP now owns 528,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,459,000 after acquiring an additional 504,324 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,424,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,141,000 after acquiring an additional 478,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 181.2% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 635,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,412,000 after acquiring an additional 409,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total value of $1,603,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,340,906.79. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $191.00 to $203.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $233.93.

Vistra Trading Up 7.0%

VST opened at $144.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $132.66 and a one year high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.229 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

About Vistra

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.