Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 954,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 895,058 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.27% of Vistra worth $82,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 32,652.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 61,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 61,060 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vistra by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,640,000 after buying an additional 334,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 56,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

VST opened at $85.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.92. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.36 and a fifty-two week high of $107.24. The firm has a market cap of $29.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.40 and a beta of 1.05.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a $0.2195 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lisa Crutchfield acquired 335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.