Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 587,607 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,057,091 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 587,607 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $79,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 90.4% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 327,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,867,000 after acquiring an additional 155,533 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $773,000. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $831,000. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,716,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Vistra by 323.6% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In related news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total value of $4,556,207.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total value of $4,556,207.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VST. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.20.

Vistra Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE:VST opened at $65.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.05. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $75.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. As a group, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were issued a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.02%.

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.