Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VST. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the first quarter worth about $223,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Vistra by 2.5% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 458,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,653,000 after buying an additional 11,136 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Vistra by 2.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,939,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,597,000 after buying an additional 534,299 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Vistra by 15.5% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 3,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Vistra by 44.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 39,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 12,108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,069,030.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,069,030.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,470,448. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397. Corporate insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $42.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,824,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,136,572. The company has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.00. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $73.05.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. On average, equities analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 24.02%.

Vistra Company Profile

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.