Advisor Resource Council Buys New Stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in Vistra during the first quarter worth $368,000. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter valued at $262,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Vistra by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.40.

Vistra Trading Up 7.6 %

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $135.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.80 and a beta of 1.09. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $34.24 and a 12-month high of $143.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.28.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.221 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Vistra declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.