Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Grows Holdings in Vistra Corp. $VST

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 6.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,165 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 365 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. City State Bank boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 210.0% in the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Vistra by 65.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 214 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its position in Vistra by 132.0% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Vistra by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 104.3% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.21.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $190.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $199.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.29. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $90.51 and a twelve month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.88%. Equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.227 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total value of $8,991,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. The trade was a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 723,910 shares of company stock valued at $148,086,569 over the last three months. 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.