Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 53,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,620,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the second quarter valued at about $4,610,496,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $746,729,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at about $574,499,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $381,938,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VST shares. Mizuho assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $169.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $736,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,561,600. This trade represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 36,588 shares of company stock worth $5,914,427 in the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $137.16 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.48.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 15.54%.

Vistra Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.