Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Shares Bought by Castle Hook Partners LP

Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,610,273 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 654,568 shares during the period. Vistra makes up 5.8% of Castle Hook Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Castle Hook Partners LP’s holdings in Vistra were worth $309,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VST. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Vistra by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,488 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,143,918 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Vistra by 315.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,175,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,096,000 after purchasing an additional 893,093 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Vistra by 121.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,536,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,082,000 after purchasing an additional 841,292 shares during the period. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Vistra by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,125,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,898,000 after purchasing an additional 797,894 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.10.

Vistra Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $154.54 on Thursday. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $34.88 and a 52-week high of $168.67. The company has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.03. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid 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 yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.42%.

Vistra declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $33,413,514.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 318,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,352,424.58. This represents a 39.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.