Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Invests $474,000 in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Vistra Corp. valued at approximately $474,000, purchasing 4,039 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Amalgamated Bank and Envestnet Asset Management, have increased their positions in Vistra, with institutional ownership now at 90.88%.
• Analysts set new price targets for Vistra, with Goldman Sachs raising its target from $134 to $164 and UBS Group from $207 to $230, indicating a generally optimistic outlook for the stock.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,414,000. Palidye Holdings Caymans Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth $149,451,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $92,649,000. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in shares of Vistra by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,773,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,512,000 after acquiring an additional 657,217 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 10,810.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 633,471 shares of the company's stock worth $74,395,000 after purchasing an additional 627,665 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VST shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Vistra from $134.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $5,650,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 88,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,218,505.12. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total transaction of $8,637,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 255,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,084,418. This trade represents a 16.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 294,000 shares of company stock worth $47,461,490 over the last three months. 1.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vistra Price Performance

VST traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $208.06. 5,735,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,076,743. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The company has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $184.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.02. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $66.50 and a 1 year high of $213.05.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.15%.

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.