Patton Fund Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 26,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,701,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Founders Capital Management bought a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra 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 owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VST. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $206.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.64.

Vistra Stock Up 9.0 %

Shares of VST stock opened at $149.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $155.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.20. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $40.54 and a 1 year high of $199.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

About Vistra

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.