Vistra Corp. $VST Shares Sold by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,889 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,829 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $6,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Vistra by 0.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,102,000 after acquiring an additional 11,386 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Vistra by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,083,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,166,000 after purchasing an additional 57,358 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,149,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 23.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Vistra by 8.7% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 118,230 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $8,991,697.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. The trade was a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 723,910 shares of company stock worth $148,086,569 in the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, 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 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $234.21.

Vistra Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $190.65 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.83, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.30. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $90.51 and a 12-month high of $219.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $199.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.25. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 64.88% and a net margin of 6.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.227 per share. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

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.