Cooper Financial Group Makes New Investment in Vistra Corp. $VST

Cooper Financial Group acquired a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,149,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 2,341.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,755,000 after acquiring an additional 830,111 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 102.5% during the 1st quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 973,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,309,000 after buying an additional 492,765 shares during the period. 140 Summer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at $56,876,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Vistra by 52.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 943,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,761,000 after acquiring an additional 323,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VST shares. Melius Research raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Scotiabank started coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Melius started coverage on Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $223.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 19,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.78, for a total transaction of $3,818,661.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 253,815 shares in the company, valued at $49,438,085.70. The trade was a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 358,274 shares of company stock worth $73,886,457 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VST opened at $202.78 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $200.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $90.51 and a 52-week high of $219.82. The company has a market cap of $68.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.33.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. Analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

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.