Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Shares Sold by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 54.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,496 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,359 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,447,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 1,493.6% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 114,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,958,000 after purchasing an additional 107,089 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 90,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $297,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Lisa Crutchfield bought 335 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE VST traded down $3.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.38. 9,359,927 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,776,642. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.70 and a 1 year high of $107.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.41 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.39). Vistra had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Guggenheim raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.83.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.