Brooklyn Investment Group Buys 822 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 276.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,119 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Vistra were worth $131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VST. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in Vistra by 275.4% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $5,650,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 88,073 shares in the company, valued at $14,218,505.12. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total transaction of $8,637,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 255,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,084,418. This trade represents a 16.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $18,579,650 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

NYSE VST opened at $192.6120 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $65.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $193.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.04. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $72.90 and a 1 year high of $216.85.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%.The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VST shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Melius started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.93.

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.