Banco Santander S.A. Sells 2,831 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,831 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,356,488 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1,358.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,918 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 315.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,175,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,096,000 after purchasing an additional 893,093 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 100.5% during the first quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,720,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,798,000 after buying an additional 862,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Vistra by 121.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,536,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,082,000 after buying an additional 841,292 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Down 2.8 %

VST opened at $161.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $125.72 and its 200 day moving average is $99.36. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $34.61 and a fifty-two week high of $168.67.

Vistra declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $0.221 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 16.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $149.10.

Vistra 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.