Peak Financial Advisors LLC Invests $547,000 in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra Corp., purchasing 2,821 shares valued at approximately $547,000 in the second quarter.
• Vistra recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $1.01, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.63, and declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.226 per share.
• Analysts have varied ratings on VST, with two giving it a "Strong Buy" rating and the consensus target price at $201.43.

Peak Financial Advisors 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 disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,908 shares of the company's stock worth $8,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $341,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $432,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of Vistra stock traded up $5.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $209.67. 3,821,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,786,083. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.55 and a 200-day moving average of $161.89. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $81.12 and a 1 year high of $216.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%.The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price target on Vistra and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Melius assumed coverage on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total value of $8,991,697.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 217,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. This represents a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

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.