Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 3,021 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Park Avenue Securities LLC decreased its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 16.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,824 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,021 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Vistra by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 80,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,883,000 after buying an additional 5,464 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,100,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 141.9% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. 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. 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. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $87.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield bought 335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $89.46 per share, with a total value of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST traded up $4.77 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.72. 4,643,955 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,770,471. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The company has a market cap of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.36 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.42. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $29.19 and a 52-week high of $107.24.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a $0.2195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

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.