Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Takes $65,000 Position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Vistra in the third quarter valued at $30,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314 in the last ninety days. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST opened at $191.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $39.69 and a 1-year high of $199.84. The stock has a market cap of $64.99 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.27.

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

Vistra declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.221 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VST shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock 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 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, November 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $168.20.

Vistra 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.