Vistra Corp. $VST Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 838,898 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,169 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $116,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,610,496,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 16.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 258,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,979,000 after purchasing an additional 35,862 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 95.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 177,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,638,000 after purchasing an additional 86,393 shares during the last quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the first quarter worth approximately $10,543,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 353.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 9,112 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Burke purchased 4,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,044,108. This represents a 0.39% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 22,222 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total value of $3,558,631.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 308,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,469,648.10. This represents a 6.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VST. UBS Group set a $176.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Vistra from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Vistra Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of VST opened at $134.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $145.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.52. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $132.66 and a twelve month high of $196.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 1.38.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.2310 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.54%.

Vistra Profile

Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST) is an integrated energy company based in Irving, Texas. The company operates across electricity generation, power distribution support, energy marketing and retail electricity sales, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily in the United States.

Vistra owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power generation and energy storage facilities. Its assets include natural gas, nuclear, coal and renewable generation, as well as battery storage projects.