Advisors Preferred LLC Invests $3.55 Million in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 93,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,546,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at about $223,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 2.5% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 458,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,653,000 after acquiring an additional 11,136 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 2.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,939,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,597,000 after acquiring an additional 534,299 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 15.5% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 44.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 39,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 12,108 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Trading Up 6.8 %

NYSE VST traded up $4.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.36. 6,097,476 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,945,442. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $75.89. The stock has a market cap of $26.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.05.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is a boost from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. Vistra's payout ratio is presently 24.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VST. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397 over the last ninety days. 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.