Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,607 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,444 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $3,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,362,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $249,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,429,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vistra by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 166,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 30,712 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $5,114,019.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $5,114,019.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at $9,470,448. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VST. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.20.

Vistra Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE VST traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.69. The company had a trading volume of 3,582,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,050,757. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.17. The stock has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 1.05. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $75.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($1.02). The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.02%.

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.