Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Vistra Corp. $VST

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,748 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $8,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VST. Red Mountain Financial LLC raised its position in Vistra by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 3.1% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 4.7% during the second quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Vistra by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of VST stock opened at $202.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $68.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $90.51 and a fifty-two week high of $219.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.61.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $4.25 billion during 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $224.21.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 19,605 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.78, for a total transaction of $3,818,661.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 253,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,438,085.70. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 358,274 shares of company stock valued at $73,886,457. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.