Senator Investment Group LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Vistra Corp. $VST

Senator Investment Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 162.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 411,825 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 254,841 shares during the period. Vistra comprises 2.6% of Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in Vistra were worth $48,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Vistra by 1.9% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vistra during the first quarter valued at $341,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in Vistra during the first quarter valued at $432,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Vistra by 29.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,021,000 after purchasing an additional 57,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in Vistra by 12.9% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 35,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $5,650,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 88,073 shares in the company, valued at $14,218,505.12. This trade represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total transaction of $4,291,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 75,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,037,649.82. The trade was a 24.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,000 shares of company stock worth $18,579,650 in the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on VST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $216.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.62.

Vistra Price Performance

Vistra stock opened at $198.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $192.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $72.90 and a 12-month high of $216.85.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

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.