Sanders Morris Harris LLC Makes New Investment in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VST. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Vistra by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:VST traded down $1.33 on Friday, hitting $86.86. 18,597,816 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,661,933. The company has a market cap of $30.18 billion, a PE ratio of 53.29 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.34. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $24.91 and a 52 week high of $107.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 24.72%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a $0.218 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Vistra’s payout ratio is 53.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield acquired 335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $89.46 per share, with a total value of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,879,359.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Guggenheim upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Vistra in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.83.

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.