Cowa LLC Cuts Stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Cowa LLC lowered its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,513 shares of the company’s stock after selling 495 shares during the period. Cowa LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 6.6% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,838,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $587,932,000 after purchasing an additional 425,126 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 470.0% during the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108,511 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 9,668.5% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,015 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 25.1% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,564,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,632,000 after purchasing an additional 514,722 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 115.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,488 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VST. BNP Paribas began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Vistra from $157.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.40.

Vistra Price Performance

VST opened at $141.91 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.80. 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 market cap of $48.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.35 and a beta of 1.09. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $34.24 and a 12-month high of $144.77.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.221 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 64.71%.

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.