Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 91,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,829,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at $297,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Vistra during the second quarter worth $576,000. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Vistra during the second quarter worth $220,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Vistra by 5.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,313,000 after buying an additional 5,094 shares during the period. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP purchased a new position in Vistra during the second quarter worth $23,644,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of VST opened at $138.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.89 and a beta of 1.10. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $31.22 and a 12-month high of $139.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.75.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were issued a $0.2195 dividend. 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 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $146.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Seven 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $118.14.

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.