Horizon Investment Services LLC Acquires New Stake in Vistra Corp. $VST

Horizon Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Vistra by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,102,000 after buying an additional 11,386 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,083,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,166,000 after acquiring an additional 57,358 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $209,149,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 23.8% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,712,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,943,000 after purchasing an additional 329,294 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,470,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,717,000 after buying an additional 118,230 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (down from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 9,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.30, for a total transaction of $1,853,964.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 298,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,491,354.10. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 723,910 shares of company stock valued at $148,086,569 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $184.97 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $90.51 and a 52-week high of $219.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $199.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.71.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its 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 company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.227 dividend. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

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.