Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,641 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $13,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank grew its position in shares of Vistra by 2.2% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vistra by 3.0% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% during the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 11,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $33,413,514.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 318,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,352,424.58. The trade was a 39.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 2.6 %

VST opened at $191.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $39.13 and a one year high of $199.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $155.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.39.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a dividend of $0.221 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.60%.

Vistra announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.