Vident Advisory LLC Has $5.70 Million Holdings in Vistra Corp. $VST

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Vistra Corp. by 38.4% during the first quarter, now holding 48,568 shares worth approximately $5.7 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $201.43 for Vistra, with various brokerages assigning "buy" and "strong-buy" ratings following new price objectives ranging from $203.00 to $241.00.
• Vistra declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.226, with payments scheduled for September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Vident Advisory LLC trimmed its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 38.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,568 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,309 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Vistra were worth $5,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VST. HM Payson & Co. grew its position in Vistra by 275.4% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 229 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at $39,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total value of $8,637,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 255,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,084,418. This represents a 16.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total transaction of $4,291,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,037,649.82. This represents a 24.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on VST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group increased 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 target price on shares of Vistra and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Melius began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $295.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.43.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST traded up $2.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $188.07. 2,721,249 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,924,482. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.33. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $72.90 and a twelve month high of $216.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.56 and a 200 day moving average of $159.43. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

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.