ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 10,338 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,672 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,338 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $10,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VST. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Vistra by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Vistra by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Vistra by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 7,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Vistra by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VST shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $233.33.

Vistra Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $149.16 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $154.54 and a 200-day moving average of $163.12.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total transaction of $1,603,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,340,906.79. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Company 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.