Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC Buys 73 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC raised its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,077 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,752,000 after buying an additional 1,037,402 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Vistra by 51.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,826,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,974 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Vistra by 36.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,307 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in shares of Vistra by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,610,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,422,000 after acquiring an additional 654,568 shares during the period. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,125,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,898,000 after purchasing an additional 797,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.20.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE VST opened at $191.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $155.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.39. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $39.13 and a 12-month high of $199.84. The company has a market capitalization of $65.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.221 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.60%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. This trade represents a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314 over the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.