Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 85.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 155,144 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,373 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $21,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $237,441,000. Appaloosa LP grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 112.5% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,612 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 51.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,826,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,974 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 36.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,307 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VST. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.83.

Vistra Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $130.75 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.21. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $64.26 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $44.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.2235 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 12.62%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 24,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.19, for a total value of $2,997,449.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,063 shares in the company, valued at $6,341,513.97. This represents a 32.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John William Pitesa purchased 1,500 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $126.75 per share, with a total value of $190,125.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,467 shares in the company, valued at $439,442.25. The trade was a 76.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.