Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys New Holdings in Vistra Corp. $VST

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VST. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its holdings in Vistra by 132.0% in the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vistra by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VST. Melius Research raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $229.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Daiwa America raised shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $227.58.

Vistra Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of VST opened at $210.96 on Thursday. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $90.51 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $200.50 and its 200-day moving average is $174.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. Equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were paid a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. Vistra’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total value of $8,991,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,303,968.75. This trade represents a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 547,510 shares of company stock valued at $112,585,800 over the last quarter. 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.