Baird Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group reduced its Vistra stake by 17.3% in the second quarter, selling 8,503 shares and retaining 40,644 shares valued at approximately $6.45 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.88% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with one Strong Buy, 14 Buy and two Hold ratings. Vistra has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $223.53, well above its reported $140.76 share price.
• Vistra’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, reporting $0.76 in adjusted EPS versus a $1.61 consensus and revenue of $4.02 billion versus $5.46 billion expected. The company announced a $0.23 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 0.7% yield.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,644 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,503 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Vistra were worth $6,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Vistra by 15,825.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,386,324 shares of the company's stock worth $9,896,343,000 after purchasing an additional 61,994,589 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth $4,610,496,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vistra by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company's stock worth $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth $746,729,000. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at $574,499,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VST. BNP Paribas Exane set a $255.00 price objective on Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Vistra from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.53.

Vistra Stock Down 5.1%

NYSE:VST opened at $140.76 on Tuesday. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $132.66 and a fifty-two week high of $219.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $148.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.73.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%.The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.46 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, CEO James Burke purchased 4,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares in the company, valued at $155,044,108. The trade was a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 44,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.82, for a total value of $6,747,488.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 331,137 shares in the company, valued at $50,273,219.34. The trade was a 11.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vistra Profile

Vistra Corp. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company operates electricity generation and retail energy businesses, serving residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers primarily across the United States.

Vistra's generation portfolio includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar and battery energy storage facilities. Through its retail operations, the company provides electricity, natural gas and renewable energy plans under brands that include TXU Energy, Dynegy, Homefield Energy and Ambit Energy.

The company was established in 2016 following the separation of Energy Future Holdings' competitive energy businesses.

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