Peterson Wealth Services Acquires New Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Peterson Wealth Services acquired a new stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 21,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,296,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Vistra by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,891,000 after acquiring an additional 432,028 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Vistra by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,112,000 after acquiring an additional 97,424 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at about $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Vistra by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,872,000 after acquiring an additional 35,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of VST opened at $157.97 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $132.66 and a 12-month high of $219.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $153.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on VST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $230.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 in the last 90 days. 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.