Rhumbline Advisers Trims Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Rhumbline Advisers cut its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 639,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 71,420 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Vistra were worth $123,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter valued at about $209,149,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Vistra by 2,341.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,755,000 after purchasing an additional 830,111 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 81.6% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,125,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,056,000 after buying an additional 505,495 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 102.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, 140 Summer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at about $56,876,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $10,183,556.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 218,239 shares in the company, valued at $38,137,265.25. This represents a 21.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,563,433.22. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 860,120 shares of company stock worth $171,817,820 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $234.36.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $168.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $57.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.75, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.30. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $90.51 and a 1 year high of $219.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

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.