WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $228,000 in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its holdings in Vistra by 470.0% in the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108,511 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Vistra by 9,668.5% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,015 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,488 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Vistra by 1,358.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,918 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Vistra by 315.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,175,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,096,000 after purchasing an additional 893,093 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $131.16 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $31.43 and a fifty-two week high of $143.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $99.78 and its 200 day moving average is $88.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.44 and a beta of 1.10.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VST. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $141.30.

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.