Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,146,598 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 300,355 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.72% of Vistra worth $236,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 33.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 27,240 shares of the company's stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 174,333 shares of the company's stock worth $5,784,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $295,000. State of Michigan Retirement System bought a new stake in Vistra in the third quarter valued at $2,741,000. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vistra during the 3rd quarter valued at $971,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Vistra stock traded up $1.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.47. The company had a trading volume of 5,844,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,243,092. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $71.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $23.53 and a 52 week high of $96.07.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 27.69% and a net margin of 5.66%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.218 per share. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Vistra in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Vistra to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.50.

Vistra Company 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.