PGGM Investments Has $4.17 Million Stock Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,496 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,160 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Vistra were worth $4,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra during the second quarter worth $5,573,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra in the second quarter valued at about $197,000. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in Vistra in the second quarter valued at about $227,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 65.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter worth about $221,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, Director Lisa Crutchfield acquired 335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $89.46 per share, with a total value of $29,969.10. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,879,359.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of VST stock traded up $0.48 on Thursday, hitting $79.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,754,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,752,883. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $27.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.62 and a beta of 1.05. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $29.47 and a twelve month high of $107.24.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a return on equity of 22.61% and a net margin of 4.61%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 53.37%.

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.