Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 403 Shares of Vistra Corp. $VST

Foster & Motley Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 21.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,464 shares of the company’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vistra during the first quarter valued at approximately $341,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the first quarter worth approximately $211,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in Vistra in the first quarter worth approximately $669,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Vistra in the first quarter worth approximately $1,159,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Vistra by 7.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 79,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VST. Cowen began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total transaction of $8,991,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. This trade represents a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 590,228 shares of company stock worth $121,653,740 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $201.53 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $200.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $68.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.33. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $90.51 and a 1 year high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. Equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 14.35%.

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.