Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $2.74 Million in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 71,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,743,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,395,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Vistra by 19,070.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,426,000 after buying an additional 5,537,584 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,145,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,145,891 shares of the company's stock worth $82,660,000 after buying an additional 87,494 shares during the period. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at about $831,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on VST shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Vistra from $42.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Vistra Stock Up 3.7 %

VST stock traded up $2.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.76. The stock had a trading volume of 7,079,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,916,110. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.12. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $74.32.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($1.02). Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.48 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Vistra's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397. 1.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.