Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Increases Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 163,721 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,912 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Vistra were worth $24,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Vistra by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after buying an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Vistra by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Vistra by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,872,000 after acquiring an additional 35,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VST shares. TD Cowen lowered 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 cut Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price target on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.62.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were 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 directly owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at $37,152,000. This trade represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $163.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.47. The company has a market cap of $55.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $132.66 and a 12-month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Vistra Company 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.