Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Bought by MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 40.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,261 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 362 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Vistra were worth $244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,884,000 after purchasing an additional 258,983 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Vistra by 0.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,102,000 after buying an additional 11,386 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Vistra by 1.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,083,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,166,000 after buying an additional 57,358 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $209,149,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 23.8% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,712,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,943,000 after acquiring an additional 329,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Up 3.7%

VST stock opened at $177.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.02 billion, a PE ratio of 63.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $193.22 and a 200-day moving average of $188.63. 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.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 64.04% and a net margin of 6.70%. As a group, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.227 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value 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. The trade was a 21.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.86, for a total value of $9,456,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 306,600 shares in the company, valued at $51,772,476. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 868,339 shares of company stock valued at $173,242,584 over the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $217.00 target price on the stock. 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 note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.20.

About Vistra

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.