Artemis Investment Management LLP Sells 273,197 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 41.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 386,087 shares of the company’s stock after selling 273,197 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Vistra were worth $26,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,146,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,779,000 after purchasing an additional 300,355 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 19,070.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,426,000 after purchasing an additional 5,537,584 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,797,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,800,000 after purchasing an additional 282,056 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 4,600,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,192,000 after purchasing an additional 995,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,244,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,516,000 after purchasing an additional 99,055 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $85.98. The company had a trading volume of 14,418,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,788,599. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $87.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.58. The company has a market cap of $29.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.26 and a beta of 1.03. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.64 and a 1 year high of $107.24.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a $0.218 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield purchased 335 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VST. Guggenheim raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Vistra in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $87.83.

Vistra Company 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.