PGGM Investments Increases Stock Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 559.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,336 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,065 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Vistra were worth $2,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Vistra by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE VST traded down $3.61 on Friday, hitting $72.43. The stock had a trading volume of 9,363,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,843,071. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $27.70 and a one year high of $107.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The stock has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.41 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.51.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.39). Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. On average, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a $0.2195 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 53.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield acquired 335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.