Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Buys Shares of 27,162 Vistra Corp. $VST

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 27,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,323,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VST. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Vistra by 95.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 177,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,638,000 after buying an additional 86,393 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $746,729,000. Payden & Rygel increased its stake in Vistra by 3,118.2% in the 4th quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,300 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth about $29,875,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 188,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,479,000 after acquiring an additional 48,378 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $155.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12 and a beta of 1.41. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $132.66 and a one year high of $219.82. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.85. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares in the company, valued at $1,561,600. This represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,152,000. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VST shares. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $233.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.88.

Vistra Company 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.