Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,484 Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lionsbridge Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at $231,000. Empire Life Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at $23,028,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Vistra by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 78,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,361,000 after purchasing an additional 6,920 shares during the period. Finally, First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at $17,781,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $133.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.67. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $53.02 and a 12-month high of $199.84.

Vistra announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.2235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $206.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.64.

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.