Independent Financial Group LLC Purchases New Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at $746,729,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at $574,499,000. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at $322,660,000. Amundi lifted its position in Vistra by 72.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,949,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,524,000 after purchasing an additional 817,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Vistra by 585.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 907,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,425,000 after purchasing an additional 775,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,714 shares in the company, valued at $12,021,380. The trade was a 8.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,152,000. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 over the last quarter. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on VST shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.62.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock opened at $162.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.17 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $154.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.41%.

Vistra Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.