DAVENPORT & Co LLC Acquires 2,440 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 8.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,980 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,440 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $6,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the first quarter worth $209,149,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Vistra by 2,341.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,755,000 after purchasing an additional 830,111 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 102.5% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 973,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,309,000 after purchasing an additional 492,765 shares in the last quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP bought a new position in Vistra in the first quarter worth $56,876,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 52.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 943,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,761,000 after purchasing an additional 323,264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Melius assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $227.85.

Vistra Trading Down 0.4%

Vistra stock opened at $199.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $200.68 and its 200 day moving average is $171.29.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. Vistra’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,371 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.82, for a total transaction of $4,377,208.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 259,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,063,331.86. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 379,645 shares of company stock worth $78,263,666 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

About Vistra

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.