National Pension Service Boosts Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 10.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 467,066 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,351 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.14% of Vistra worth $74,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of VST opened at $148.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $132.66 and a 1-year high of $219.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.81 and a 200 day moving average of $154.04.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%.The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.21 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, Director Paul Barbas sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John Sult sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $1,105,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 70,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,188 shares of company stock worth $11,889,820. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vistra News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Vistra this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vistra priced $850 million of Series A and $650 million of Series B junior subordinated notes due 2057. Proceeds will support general corporate purposes and could be used to redeem outstanding preferred stock, potentially improving the capital structure. Vistra Prices Registered Offering of $1.5 Billion of Junior Subordinated Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain optimistic about Vistra’s growth prospects. Hedging, long-term power contracts, its diversified generation portfolio and rising electricity demand from data centers, industrial activity and electrification support earnings visibility. The Cogentrix acquisition and long-term nuclear agreements with Meta and Amazon Web Services are additional potential catalysts. Vistra: Cogentrix and Meta Can Offset a Softer ERCOT Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s consensus view remains favorable, with a Moderate Buy rating and price targets generally well above the recent trading range. Commentators cite improving EBITDA expectations and potential upside to management’s outlook. Vistra Receives Consensus Recommendation of Moderate Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive Vice President Scott Hudson sold 44,444 shares worth approximately $6.75 million. Because the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, it is a limited signal of management’s current outlook. SEC Insider Transaction Filing
• Negative Sentiment: The notes increase Vistra’s financing obligations while the company already has substantial leverage, reflected in a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. Investors may also be concerned about softer ERCOT conditions and the additional leverage associated with the Cogentrix acquisition. VST Stock Outperforms Industry in the Past Three Months

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on VST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $222.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.53.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company operates electricity generation and retail energy businesses, serving residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers primarily across the United States.

Vistra’s generation portfolio includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar and battery energy storage facilities. Through its retail operations, the company provides electricity, natural gas and renewable energy plans under brands that include TXU Energy, Dynegy, Homefield Energy and Ambit Energy.

The company was established in 2016 following the separation of Energy Future Holdings’ competitive energy businesses.