Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,229 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $1,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,281,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Vistra by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 36,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Vistra by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,779,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,387,000 after acquiring an additional 194,404 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in Vistra by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 10,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 105,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,519,000 after acquiring an additional 96,952 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on VST shares. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.83.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE VST opened at $113.96 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $57.50 and a 1 year high of $199.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.87.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.2235 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.62%.

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.