Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.49 Million Stock Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,802 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 0.7% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 2.2% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 3.0% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on VST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $206.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.64.

Vistra Trading Down 28.3 %

Shares of VST opened at $136.96 on Tuesday. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $40.54 and a 12-month high of $199.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $156.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.79.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a $0.221 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.60%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $33,413,514.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 318,287 shares in the company, valued at $51,352,424.58. The trade was a 39.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

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.