Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Vistra Corp. by 296.3% during the first quarter, holding 55,755 shares valued at approximately $6.55 million.
• Vistra recently missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.01 EPS against a consensus estimate of $1.63, alongside a revenue of $4.25 billion, below the expected $5.15 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.226, reflecting a positive change from its previous quarterly payout of $0.23.

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 296.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,755 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 41,687 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Vistra were worth $6,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Vistra by 2,582.5% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 91,447 shares of the company's stock worth $12,608,000 after purchasing an additional 88,038 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Vistra by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 44,015 shares of the company's stock worth $6,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted 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 buying an additional 2,090 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 126,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,427,000 after buying an additional 28,592 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $188.07 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $195.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.63. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $72.90 and a 52-week high of $216.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $63.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.33.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business 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 is Friday, September 19th. 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%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total transaction of $4,291,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,037,649.82. The trade was a 24.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VST. 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. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price target on Vistra and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.43.

Vistra 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.

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