Bessemer Group Inc. Has $1.28 Million Stock Position in Vistra Corp. $VST

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 49.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,559 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. City State Bank grew its position in shares of Vistra by 210.0% during the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in Vistra by 275.4% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA grew its holdings in Vistra by 132.0% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vistra by 48.4% in the second quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 104.3% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $188.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.69. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $90.51 and a 12-month high of $219.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%.The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VST. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Daiwa America upgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.93.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total transaction of $8,991,697.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. This trade represents a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 723,910 shares of company stock worth $148,086,569. 1.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Vistra

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.