Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 19,920 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,061,935 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,920 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $159,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Vistra by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 5,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 6.0% during the first quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 4,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 3.1% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 163,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,912 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter worth approximately $1,690,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 6.8% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 3,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $230.62.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $163.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.47. The stock has a market cap of $55.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $132.66 and a twelve month high of $219.82.

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 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 analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

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.