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, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,727 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VST. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Vistra by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank increased its position in shares of Vistra by 2.2% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 3.0% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vistra by 0.9% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Vistra by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vistra from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.50.

Vistra Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $169.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.21. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $38.95 and a 1 year high of $178.08.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,849,637.12. This trade represents a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314. Corporate 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.