Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Purchased by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 165.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,657 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Transatlantique SA increased 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 purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased 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 purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra 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 value of $8,991,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 463,350 shares of company stock valued at $95,374,138 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $229.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.85.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST stock opened at $197.17 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. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a $0.226 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 14.35%.

About Vistra

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.