Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. Makes New $1.17 Million Investment in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. acquired 10,000 shares of Vistra Corp., valued at approximately $1,174,000, making it the firm's 14th largest holding.
• Insider sales resulted in a significant decrease in some directors' positions, with a total of 110,000 shares sold worth $18,579,650 over the last ninety days.
• Vistra recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.226 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $0.90 and a yield of 0.5%.

Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,174,000. Vistra accounts for about 0.8% of Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth $633,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 32,047 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,000 after acquiring an additional 10,249 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 78,390 shares of the company's stock worth $10,809,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,072,045 shares of the company's stock worth $285,674,000 after acquiring an additional 132,530 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST stock traded up $5.42 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $195.50. The stock had a trading volume of 3,425,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,515,265. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $72.90 and a 52 week high of $216.85. The stock's 50 day moving average is $194.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The firm has a market cap of $66.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.30.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a $0.226 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Vistra's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on Vistra and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Melius Research raised Vistra to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.43.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total value of $4,291,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,037,649.82. This represents a 24.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total value of $8,637,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 255,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,084,418. This represents a 16.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.