Energy Income Partners LLC Buys 126,762 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 36.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 471,293 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 126,762 shares during the quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $70,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vistra by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,891,000 after acquiring an additional 432,028 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,112,000 after acquiring an additional 97,424 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,872,000 after acquiring an additional 35,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $157.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $132.66 and a 1 year high of $219.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 70,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 over the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Vistra from $230.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $230.12.

Vistra Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.