Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 15,000 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd has reduced its stake in Vistra Corp. by 54.5%, selling 15,000 shares and leaving them with 12,500 shares valued at approximately $1.49 million.
• Vistra recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.225, up from $0.22, representing an annual yield of 0.46%.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Vistra, with UBS Group setting a new target at $230 and providing a "buy" rating.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd cut its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 54.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Vistra were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 8,000 shares of the company's stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Vistra by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Vistra by 4.9% during the first quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Vistra by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,980 shares of the company's stock worth $1,100,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on VST shares. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 target price on Vistra and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $134.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.69.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $208.25. The company had a trading volume of 4,541,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,352,040. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $70.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.81, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.26. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $66.50 and a 12-month high of $213.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.98.

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 paid a $0.226 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.15%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $44,084,418. This represents a 16.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total value of $4,291,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,037,649.82. This trade represents a 24.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 294,000 shares of company stock worth $47,461,490 over the last three months. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.