Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys Shares of 4,749 Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. has acquired 4,749 shares of Vistra Corp., valued at approximately $558,000, during the first quarter.
• Recent sales by directors have seen a total of 294,000 shares of Vistra stock sold, representing significant decreases in their ownership stakes.
• Vistra recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.226, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 8,000 shares of the company's stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total value of $4,291,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,946 shares in the company, valued at $13,037,649.82. This represents a 24.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 255,192 shares in the company, valued at $44,084,418. This represents a 16.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 294,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,461,490 over the last three months. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $241.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.62.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $202.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $68.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.13. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $72.90 and a fifty-two week high of $216.85.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.226 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

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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