Shilanski & Associates Inc. Has $1.90 Million Stock Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Shilanski & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 523 shares during the period. Shilanski & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Vistra in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at $41,849,637.12. This trade represents a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314 over the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VST shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price target on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.20.

Vistra Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of VST stock opened at $191.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. The firm has a market cap of $65.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $155.22 and a 200-day moving average of $119.39. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $39.13 and a 12-month high of $199.84.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $0.221 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 16.60%.

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.