Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Holdings in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its position in Vistra Corp. by 47.4%, reducing its holdings to 3,189 shares worth $618,000.
• Vistra recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.226 per share, up from $0.23, with a dividend yield of 0.4%.
• The company reported Q2 earnings of $1.01 per share, missing analysts' estimates, with revenue of $4.25 billion compared to consensus of $5.15 billion.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 47.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,189 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,877 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Vistra were worth $618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banque Transatlantique SA lifted its holdings in Vistra by 132.0% during the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 232 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Vistra by 275.4% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 229 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock traded up $6.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $217.88. 4,803,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,129,812. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $198.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.60. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $90.51 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.34.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.50, for a total value of $4,517,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 233,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,330,683. This represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,847 shares of company stock valued at $39,921,480. Insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. 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 Research raised Vistra to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $213.73.

Vistra Company 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.