Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Invests $22.62 Million in Vistra Corp. $VST

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 115,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,619,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,660,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,228,880,000 after buying an additional 226,514 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Vistra by 15.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,106,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,392,299,000 after acquiring an additional 930,912 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $930,080,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Vistra by 25.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,390,000 after acquiring an additional 913,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Vistra by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,344,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,264,000 after acquiring an additional 16,321 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 22,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.05, for a total transaction of $3,605,774.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 297,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,290,575.90. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

Vistra stock opened at $163.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $163.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.78. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $90.51 and a 1 year high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 81.09%. As a group, equities research 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 Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.228 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Vistra from $249.00 to $233.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.40.

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.