Steph & Co. Buys 135 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Steph & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,727 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Vistra by 0.7% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in Vistra by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 11,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its position in Vistra by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $151.50.

Vistra Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VST opened at $169.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $38.95 and a 52-week high of $178.08. The firm has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.55 and its 200-day moving average is $115.81.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.221 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 16.60%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total transaction of $33,413,514.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 318,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,352,424.58. This trade represents a 39.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.