53,962 Shares in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Acquired by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 53,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,095,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank increased its position in Vistra by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 327,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 155,533 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $773,000. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $831,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 145,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,617,000 after acquiring an additional 5,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,716,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VST traded up $5.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.10. The stock had a trading volume of 8,333,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,044,431. The stock has a market cap of $35.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.64 and a beta of 1.02. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $23.53 and a 52 week high of $104.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.20 and its 200 day moving average is $54.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.218 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,470,448. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at $9,470,448. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $5,114,019.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397 over the last ninety days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VST. Guggenheim raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.50.

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.