Glendon Capital Management LP Boosts Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Glendon Capital Management LP has increased its stake in Vistra Corp. by 29.4%, now holding 748,893 shares, making Vistra the firm's fifth-largest position.
• Vistra announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.226 per share, marking a positive change from the previous $0.23, with the payout ratio currently at 14.35%.
• Shares of Vistra are trading down by 1.5%, with recent earnings results showing an EPS of $1.01, which fell short of analyst expectations.

Glendon Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 748,893 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 170,000 shares during the period. Vistra comprises about 5.1% of Glendon Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Glendon Capital Management LP owned 0.22% of Vistra worth $87,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $633,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Vistra by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 32,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,418,000 after buying an additional 10,249 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 78.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 8,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 3,770 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 78,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,809,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VST. Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. 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 research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total value of $8,637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $5,650,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 88,073 shares in the company, valued at $14,218,505.12. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $18,579,650 over the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vistra Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of VST traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $189.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,720,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,059,995. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.17. The company has a market capitalization of $64.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.30. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $72.90 and a 12 month high of $216.85.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra's payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

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.