ClearAlpha Technologies LP Invests $878,000 in Vistra Corp. $VST

ClearAlpha Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $878,000. Vistra makes up about 2.5% of ClearAlpha Technologies LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VST. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 74.8% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,088 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,227. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $158.57 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.72. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $132.66 and a 52 week high of $219.82.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

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.