Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Makes New $622,000 Investment in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,539,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,174,326,000 after purchasing an additional 219,055 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Vistra by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,260,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after buying an additional 2,433,732 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Vistra by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,026,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,261,000 after acquiring an additional 296,714 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth $409,087,000. Finally, Appaloosa LP boosted its holdings in Vistra by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,612 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VST shares. Bank of America upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Vistra from $203.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 24,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.19, for a total transaction of $2,997,449.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,341,513.97. This represents a 32.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John William Pitesa purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $126.75 per share, with a total value of $190,125.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $439,442.25. This represents a 76.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vistra Stock Up 1.4 %

VST opened at $139.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.84. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $66.50 and a twelve month high of $199.84.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s payout ratio is 12.62%.

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.