Wedmont Private Capital Grows Stock Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,950 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Vistra were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Vistra by 1,505.9% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at $47,990,029.50. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Down 0.8 %

VST stock opened at $169.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $38.95 and a 1-year high of $178.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.43.

Vistra announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a dividend of $0.221 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $151.50.

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.