Empowered Funds LLC Trims Stock Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,464 shares of the company’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $3,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Vistra by 4.4% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,884,000 after acquiring an additional 258,983 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,102,000 after purchasing an additional 11,386 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Vistra by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,083,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,166,000 after buying an additional 57,358 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,149,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Vistra by 23.8% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,712,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,943,000 after buying an additional 329,294 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.36.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.86, for a total transaction of $9,456,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 306,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,772,476. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $4,091,535.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 271,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,563,433.22. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 860,120 shares of company stock valued at $171,817,820 in the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $168.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.99. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.75, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $195.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.88.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.04%. Analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.227 per share. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is 32.49%.

Vistra 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.