Morse Asset Management Inc Takes $631,000 Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 45.9% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 2,981 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in Vistra by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 35,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,206,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. IronBridge Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth $236,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 36.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,307 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST opened at $154.16 on Wednesday. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $35.99 and a one year high of $168.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $135.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $52.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.16.

Vistra announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.221 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 16.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $33,413,514.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 318,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,352,424.58. This represents a 39.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. This represents a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.10.

Vistra 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.