Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 609,867 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 25,235 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Vistra were worth $118,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VST. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vistra by 2.2% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Vistra by 0.9% in the second quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Red Mountain Financial LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 3.1% during the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 3.1% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $10,183,556.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 218,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,137,265.25. This represents a 21.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.86, for a total transaction of $9,456,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 306,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,772,476. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 868,339 shares of company stock worth $173,242,584. 1.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VST shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cowen started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.20.

Vistra Trading Down 5.0%

Vistra stock opened at $167.30 on Monday. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $90.51 and a 52-week high of $219.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.40, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.86.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.04%. Sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.227 per share. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

Vistra 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.