Saudi Central Bank Buys 11,192 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Saudi Central Bank lifted its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,698 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,192 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Vistra were worth $3,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Markowski Investments bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at approximately $131,000. OceanIQ Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $244,000. Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in Vistra by 7.7% during the second quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 35,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 5,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kickstand Ventures LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kickstand Ventures LLC. now owns 2,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of VST stock opened at $149.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $132.66 and a 12-month high of $219.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $149.39 and its 200 day moving average is $154.70.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. Research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VST shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Vistra from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Vistra from $222.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was 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 $12,021,380. The trade was a 8.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,988 shares of company stock worth $5,178,427. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra 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.