Ascent Group LLC Buys New Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Vistra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,146,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,779,000 after acquiring an additional 300,355 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,797,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,800,000 after acquiring an additional 282,056 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC lifted its stake in Vistra by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 4,600,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,192,000 after acquiring an additional 995,748 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Vistra by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,244,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,516,000 after acquiring an additional 99,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in Vistra by 470.0% during the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108,511 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VST. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.83.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield purchased 335 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 32,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $71.24. 4,846,099 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,705,815. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.54 and a 52-week high of $107.24. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.71 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.39 and its 200 day moving average is $70.98.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.39). Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were issued a $0.218 dividend. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s payout ratio is 53.37%.

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.