Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 129,900 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in Vistra Corp. by 28.4%, owning 328,000 shares valued at approximately $38.5 million after selling 129,900 shares.
• Multiple large investors increased their positions in Vistra, with Nuveen LLC purchasing a stake worth around $209 million and GAMMA Investing LLC growing its position by over 10,000% during the same period.
• Vistra recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.226 per share, reflecting ongoing financial adjustments amidst analysts providing a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the company.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. decreased its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 28.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 129,900 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.10% of Vistra worth $38,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vistra by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Vistra by 2,582.5% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 91,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,608,000 after acquiring an additional 88,038 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Vistra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 44,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA raised its position in Vistra by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 22,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,158,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST traded down $2.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $187.73. The stock had a trading volume of 5,198,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,346,336. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $72.90 and a 1-year high of $216.85. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $195.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.33.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.43.

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.