Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,522,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,568,069 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.22% of Vistra worth $1,637,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VST. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Vistra by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 17,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Vistra by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Vistra by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Vistra by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, Director Lisa Crutchfield purchased 335 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $89.46 per share, with a total value of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 32,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST stock opened at $87.58 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $85.48 and its 200 day moving average is $61.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.73 and a beta of 1.03. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $24.70 and a 12 month high of $107.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a $0.218 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VST. Guggenheim raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.83.

Vistra Profile

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.