Profund Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 32.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,034 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,421 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $3,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,102,000 after buying an additional 11,386 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Vistra by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,083,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,166,000 after buying an additional 57,358 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at about $209,149,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 23.8% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,712,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,943,000 after purchasing an additional 329,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Vistra by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,470,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,717,000 after purchasing an additional 118,230 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Cowen assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $234.21.

Vistra Stock Up 3.3%

NYSE:VST opened at $190.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $64.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.30. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $90.51 and a fifty-two week high of $219.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.25.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.88%. Analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.227 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 9,641 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.30, for a total transaction of $1,853,964.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,491,354.10. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 723,910 shares of company stock worth $148,086,569. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.