Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 451,885 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,179,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 451,885 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.23% of Vistra worth $576,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,087,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Vistra by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,260,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $286,414,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at about $237,441,000. Finally, Appaloosa LP raised its position in Vistra by 112.5% in the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,249,000 after buying an additional 1,429,612 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VST shares. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Vistra from $203.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Vistra from $174.00 to $154.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.17.

Vistra Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of VST stock opened at $115.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.80 and a 200 day moving average of $141.08. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $64.26 and a twelve month high of $199.84.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.2235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 12.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 24,136 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.19, for a total value of $2,997,449.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,341,513.97. This trade represents a 32.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John William Pitesa purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $126.75 per share, for a total transaction of $190,125.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $439,442.25. This represents a 76.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.