Headlands Technologies LLC Lowers Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Headlands Technologies LLC reduced its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 57.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,597 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,907 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VST. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 275.4% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2,540.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.00, for a total transaction of $8,792,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 306,600 shares in the company, valued at $48,136,200. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total value of $4,291,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,037,649.82. This represents a 24.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 294,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,461,490 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 target price on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Vistra from $134.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $241.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $216.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.69.

Vistra Trading Down 1.6%

VST opened at $202.35 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.15. The company has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.30. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $72.90 and a one year high of $216.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 101.61% and a net margin of 12.90%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a $0.226 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

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.