Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Bought by M&T Bank Corp

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Vistra by 73.5% in Q4, buying 29,161 shares to hold 68,844 shares valued at about $11.107 million.
• EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 Vistra shares at an average price of $160.31 on March 9, reducing her holding to 114,409 shares; company insiders now own roughly 0.92% of the stock.
• Analysts have a consensus Buy rating on Vistra with an average price target of $236.40 (three Strong Buy, twelve Buy, one Hold), and several firms recently raised targets or ratings.

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 73.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,844 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,161 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Vistra were worth $11,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 916 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 7,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Effects LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $287.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $191.00 to $203.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $218.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $236.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total value of $1,603,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,409 shares in the company, valued at $18,340,906.79. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $164.40 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $160.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.39. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $122.30 and a 1-year high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $55.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.49.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($0.27). Vistra had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 81.09%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.75 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were given a $0.228 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra's payout ratio is 41.94%.

Vistra Profile

Vistra NYSE: VST is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company's operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra's core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.

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