Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 32.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,162 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,962 shares during the period. Vistra accounts for approximately 1.0% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. City State Bank raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 210.0% in the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 65.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 132.0% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 48.4% in the second quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 104.3% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $229.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.93.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $189.34 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $199.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $90.51 and a 12 month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.227 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 9,641 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.30, for a total transaction of $1,853,964.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,491,354.10. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 723,910 shares of company stock worth $148,086,569. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.