Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Increases Stock Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 1,111.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,160 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,734 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Vistra were worth $776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $746,729,000. Payden & Rygel grew 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 valued at $5,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,300 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,875,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Vistra by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,768,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,343,000 after purchasing an additional 192,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 188,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,479,000 after purchasing an additional 48,378 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Price Performance

NYSE VST opened at $163.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The stock has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $154.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.37.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total value of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,368,825.60. This trade represents a 25.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, June 15th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $230.31.

About Vistra

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.