Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 2,164,295 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Vistra Corp. by 98.1%, selling over 2 million shares and retaining only 41,751 shares worth about $4.9 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Vistra, with rating changes including a downgrade from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen, while Goldman Sachs and UBS Group raised their target prices to $203 and $230, respectively.
• Vistra recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.226, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend and equating to an annual yield of 0.4%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 98.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,164,295 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Vistra were worth $4,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VST. Banque Transatlantique SA increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 132.0% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 232 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 275.4% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 229 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VST. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.43.

Vistra Price Performance

Vistra stock traded up $5.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $209.67. The company had a trading volume of 3,168,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,845,127. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $81.12 and a fifty-two week high of $216.85. 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 company has a market cap of $71.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.08.

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 company 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, equities research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

About Vistra

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.