Jackson Square Capital LLC Purchases New Shares in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Jackson Square Capital LLC has acquired a new stake in Vistra Corp., purchasing 9,460 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million during the second quarter.
• Vistra recently missed earnings expectations for the quarter, reporting an EPS of $1.01 compared to the estimated $1.63, alongside revenues of $4.25 billion against a $5.15 billion forecast.
• The company has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.226, reflecting a 0.4% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 14.35%.

Jackson Square Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,833,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VST. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the first quarter valued at $341,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $432,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $547,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Vistra by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,021,000 after acquiring an additional 57,551 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Vistra Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE VST traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $211.08. 9,186,274 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,796,269. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $90.51 and a 1-year high of $217.90. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $197.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.52 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.33.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a $0.226 dividend. 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 an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra's payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vistra to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on Vistra and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,361 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 227,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,456,878.08. This trade represents a 8.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,121 shares of company stock valued at $30,849,036. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

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.