Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 506,960 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,666 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Vistra were worth $81,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 74.8% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,368,825.60. This trade represents a 25.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE VST opened at $148.01 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $132.66 and a 1-year high of $219.82. The company has a market capitalization of $49.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given 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 yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VST. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.33.

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.