Bensler LLC Grows Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Bensler LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,546 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,959 shares during the period. Vistra comprises about 1.8% of Bensler LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $15,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 594.6% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 6,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 5,304 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Vistra by 29.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,021,000 after buying an additional 57,551 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Vistra by 7.6% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 98,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,551,000 after buying an additional 6,908 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in Vistra by 42.0% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 15,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,874,000 after buying an additional 4,717 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Vistra by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 41,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,900,000 after acquiring an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 9,641 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,491,354.10. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 723,910 shares of company stock worth $148,086,569 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $190.65 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $90.51 and a fifty-two week high of $219.82. The company has a market cap 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.29.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.88%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.227 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 14.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on VST. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.