Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 31.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,905,499 shares of the company’s stock after selling 887,281 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.55% of Vistra worth $163,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth about $1,675,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Vistra by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 115,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 33,738 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Vistra by 633.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 58,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,260,000 after purchasing an additional 50,672 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 206,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,768,000 after buying an additional 15,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at $673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE VST opened at $122.57 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.17. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $31.16 and a one year high of $122.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a PE ratio of 75.20 and a beta of 1.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were issued a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $110.83.

Vistra Company 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.