Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Sold by First Dallas Securities Inc.

First Dallas Securities Inc. reduced its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,280 shares during the quarter. Vistra comprises about 1.5% of First Dallas Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $3,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra during the first quarter worth about $209,149,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2,341.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,755,000 after purchasing an additional 830,111 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in Vistra by 102.5% during the 1st quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 973,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,309,000 after purchasing an additional 492,765 shares in the last quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP purchased a new position in Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,876,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 23.8% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,712,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,943,000 after buying an additional 329,294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cowen started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. TD Cowen started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $234.21.

Vistra Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE:VST opened at $190.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $64.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.30. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.25.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.03). Vistra had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.88%. The business had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.227 dividend. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 9,641 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.30, for a total transaction of $1,853,964.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,967 shares in the company, valued at $57,491,354.10. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 723,910 shares of company stock valued at $148,086,569 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Profile

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.