Ballentine Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,015 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,539,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,174,326,000 after purchasing an additional 219,055 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 63.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,260,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433,732 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,026,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,261,000 after purchasing an additional 296,714 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,087,000. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,964,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,677,000 after purchasing an additional 353,949 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other news, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total value of $4,291,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 75,946 shares in the company, valued at $13,037,649.82. This represents a 24.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total transaction of $8,637,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 255,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,084,418. This represents a 16.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 294,000 shares of company stock worth $47,461,490 over the last three months. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $216.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Vistra from $134.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Vistra from $160.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.92.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST opened at $191.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $65.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.70. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $66.50 and a 1-year high of $200.25.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 14.15%.

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.