Balefire LLC Invests $390,000 in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Balefire LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra Corp. valued at approximately $390,000, purchasing 2,011 shares during the second quarter.
• CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of Vistra stock for nearly $9 million, reducing his ownership by 16.56%.
• Analysts have upgraded Vistra's stock ratings, with Goldman Sachs setting a new price target of $203 while Jefferies increased it to $241.

Balefire LLC purchased a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 3.1% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vistra by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the company's stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Vistra by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the company's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Oak Grove Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Oak Grove Capital LLC now owns 19,760 shares of the company's stock worth $2,321,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,409 shares of the company's stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.56, for a total value of $4,540,494.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 227,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,456,878.08. The trade was a 8.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,121 shares of company stock worth $30,849,036. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vistra Stock Up 0.9%

VST traded up $1.82 on Thursday, reaching $210.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,587,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,814,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $90.26 and a 1 year high of $217.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $197.82 and its 200 day moving average is $163.68. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.33.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This is a boost from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra's payout ratio is 14.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Melius started coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $295.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, 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 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.71.

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.