Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the first quarter worth approximately $209,149,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Vistra by 2,341.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,755,000 after buying an additional 830,111 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 102.5% in the first 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. 140 Summer Partners LP purchased a new stake in Vistra in the first quarter worth approximately $56,876,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 52.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 943,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,761,000 after buying an additional 323,264 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,365 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.55, for a total value of $4,434,305.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 269,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,907,328.40. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 463,350 shares of company stock valued at $95,374,138. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VST shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (down previously from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Vistra from $229.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $227.85.

Vistra Trading Down 6.1%

NYSE VST opened at $197.17 on Monday. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $90.51 and a fifty-two week high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.22. The stock has a market cap of $66.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.33.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%.The business had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a $0.226 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

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.