SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 36.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,967 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,819 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Vistra by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,146,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,779,000 after acquiring an additional 300,355 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Vistra by 19,070.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,537,584 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Vistra by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,797,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,800,000 after acquiring an additional 282,056 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 4,600,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,192,000 after acquiring an additional 995,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,244,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,516,000 after acquiring an additional 99,055 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Up 4.6 %

NYSE:VST opened at $91.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.27 and a beta of 1.05. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $25.88 and a one year high of $107.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.39). Vistra had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were paid a $0.218 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Guggenheim raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield bought 335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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.