Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Invests $807,000 in Vistra Corp. $VST

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth about $746,729,000. Payden & Rygel lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 3,118.2% during the 4th quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,711,000 after buying an additional 34,300 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $29,875,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 188,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,479,000 after buying an additional 48,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,768,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,343,000 after buying an additional 192,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Down 0.0%

VST stock opened at $158.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.72. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $132.66 and a 52 week high of $219.82. The company has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $230.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 53,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $736,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,600. The trade was a 32.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,088 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,227 in the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vistra Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.