Vistra Corp. $VST Position Boosted by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 159.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,689 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,177 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $2,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $930,080,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,896,000 after buying an additional 1,864,931 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 280.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,356,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,390,000 after acquiring an additional 913,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 2,341.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,755,000 after acquiring an additional 830,111 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cowen started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price target for the company. Melius started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.20.

Vistra Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of VST stock opened at $170.20 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.99. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $90.51 and a twelve month high of $219.82. The company has a market capitalization of $57.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.44, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $10,183,556.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 218,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,137,265.25. The trade was a 21.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 306,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,772,476. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 762,937 shares of company stock worth $151,499,955 in the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.