Altshuler Shaham Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Altshuler Shaham Ltd cut its stake in Vistra by 26.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,647 shares and leaving it with 24,049 shares valued at about $3.88 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very heavy, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 90.88% of Vistra’s stock; several large firms, including Vanguard and State Street, also increased their positions.
• Vistra’s fundamentals and outlook remain strong: the company beat quarterly earnings estimates, and analysts still have a Buy-leaning consensus with an average price target of $230.44, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.229 per share.

Altshuler Shaham Ltd lessened its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,049 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,647 shares during the quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd's holdings in Vistra were worth $3,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,709,519,000 after acquiring an additional 390,157 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after acquiring an additional 432,028 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after acquiring an additional 97,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Vistra by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company's stock worth $895,872,000 after buying an additional 35,258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VST shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $241.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $230.44.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock opened at $158.57 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The stock has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $132.66 and a 52-week high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.229 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, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.24%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,561,600. The trade was a 32.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,109,918. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,088 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,227 over the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vistra Profile

Vistra NYSE: VST is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company's operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra's core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.

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