Westover Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Westover Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 9.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,102 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,806 shares during the period. Vistra makes up approximately 1.8% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $8,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,149,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Vistra by 2,341.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,755,000 after purchasing an additional 830,111 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its position in Vistra by 81.6% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,125,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,056,000 after purchasing an additional 505,495 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vistra by 102.5% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 973,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,309,000 after purchasing an additional 492,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 140 Summer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 1st quarter worth about $56,876,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,303,968.75. The trade was a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 745,845 shares of company stock valued at $152,178,104 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST opened at $175.03 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.29. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $90.51 and a 52-week high of $219.82. The company has a market cap of $59.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.19, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 64.04% and a net margin of 6.70%. Equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.227 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.21.

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.