OP Asset Management Ltd Buys New Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 173,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,094,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after purchasing an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Vistra by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after buying an additional 432,028 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Vistra by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,872,000 after acquiring an additional 35,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,109,918. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $162.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $54.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $154.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.34. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $132.66 and a one year high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Equities analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid a $0.229 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

About Vistra

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.