J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Sells 1,090 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,496 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VST. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Vistra during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter worth $46,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.43.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $91.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $31.16 and a 52 week high of $107.24. The firm has a market cap of $31.68 billion, a PE ratio of 55.93 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.83 and its 200-day moving average is $79.79.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 53.37%.

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.