Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Vistra Corp. by 1.5%, acquiring an additional 19,679 shares to hold a total of 1,327,653 shares valued at approximately $155.92 million.
• Vistra recently posted earnings of $1.01 per share, missing analyst expectations, with quarterly revenue of $4.25 billion compared to an estimate of $5.15 billion.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.226 per share, reflecting a 0.5% dividend yield, which will be paid out on September 30th to investors recorded by September 19th.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,327,653 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,679 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.39% of Vistra worth $155,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its stake in Vistra by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 8,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 2.0% in the first quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Vistra by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 4.9% in the first quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock traded down $0.2750 during trading on Thursday, reaching $192.6350. 1,476,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,099,778. The company has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.30. 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 price is $193.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. As a group, analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on VST. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vistra to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $5,650,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 88,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,218,505.12. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total transaction of $4,291,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 75,946 shares in the company, valued at $13,037,649.82. This trade represents a 24.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $18,579,650. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

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.