Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $2.14 Million Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,741 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $2,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Vistra by 4.0% in the second quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vistra by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Fogel Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total transaction of $8,991,697.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 217,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. This trade represents a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 723,910 shares of company stock worth $148,086,569 in the last three months. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on VST. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.21.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $190.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.60 billion, a PE ratio of 68.83, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $199.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.79. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $90.51 and a twelve month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.03). Vistra had a return on equity of 64.88% and a net margin of 6.70%.The business had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.227 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

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.