Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 31.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,905,499 shares of the company’s stock after selling 887,281 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $163,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on VST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.83.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST opened at $122.57 on Wednesday. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $31.16 and a 12-month high of $122.64. The stock has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.20 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.17.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.37%.

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.