Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $3.90 Million Stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,289 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,818 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $3,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VST. State Street Corp boosted its position in Vistra by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,752,000 after buying an additional 1,037,402 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,826,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,974 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Vistra by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,307 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its position in Vistra by 33.5% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,610,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,422,000 after purchasing an additional 654,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 60.1% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,125,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,898,000 after purchasing an additional 797,894 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VST. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.64.

Vistra Trading Up 13.6 %

Shares of VST stock opened at $176.28 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $40.78 and a fifty-two week high of $199.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.82. The company has a market cap of $59.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $4.01. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 57.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. This trade represents a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 318,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,352,424.58. The trade was a 39.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

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.