TrueWealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

TrueWealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VST. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 51.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,826,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,974 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Vistra by 1,358.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143,918 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vistra by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,938,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037,402 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 315.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,175,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,096,000 after acquiring an additional 893,093 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST stock opened at $171.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $39.08 and a fifty-two week high of $178.40. The company has a market capitalization of $58.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.79.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $0.221 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. 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. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.60%.

Vistra announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VST. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vistra from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $151.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. This represents a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

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.