Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 9,112 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 353.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,690 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,112 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 24.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Vistra by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 28,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 8,312 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Vistra by 37.3% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $269,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP grew its stake in Vistra by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Vistra from $230.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.88.

Vistra Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $155.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $156.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.85. 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 Corp. has a 12-month low of $132.66 and a 12-month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 53,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 70,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,021,380. This trade represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. 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 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Vistra 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.