Jennison Associates LLC Increases Stock Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 23.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,712,726 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 329,294 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.50% of Vistra worth $331,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its stake in Vistra by 132.0% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in Vistra by 275.4% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank raised its stake in Vistra by 210.0% in the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.93.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $190.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $64.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.49. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $90.51 and a twelve month high of $219.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 19,600 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.46, for a total value of $3,850,616.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 297,429 shares in the company, valued at $58,432,901.34. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 693,796 shares of company stock valued at $142,063,483 in the last quarter. 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.