Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 40,000 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Premier Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 72.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Vistra were worth $2,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VST. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Vistra by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of Vistra by 7.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Vistra by 0.9% during the third quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 7,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Vistra by 2.0% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Effects LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 1.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $287.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given 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 target price of $233.93.

Vistra Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of VST opened at $158.20 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $53.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.43. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $133.73 and a 52 week high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 81.09% and a net margin of 5.32%. On average, analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.16 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is a positive change 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 41.94%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total transaction of $1,603,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,409 shares in the company, valued at $18,340,906.79. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.