Empowered Funds LLC Increases Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 174.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,165 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 90,445 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $16,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,838,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $587,932,000 after purchasing an additional 425,126 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in Vistra by 470.0% in the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,569,000 after buying an additional 3,108,511 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,564,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,632,000 after buying an additional 514,722 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Vistra by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after buying an additional 1,356,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Vistra by 100.5% during the 1st quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,720,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,798,000 after buying an additional 862,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Vistra from $157.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim raised their target price on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.40.

Vistra Stock Up 0.1 %

VST stock opened at $138.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $34.25 and a 12 month high of $149.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.78.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.221 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.42%.

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

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.