Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases 1,356,488 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,356,488 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Vistra were worth $217,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 3.0% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 16.8% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Vistra by 38.6% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Vistra by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 5.0% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of VST opened at $91.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $31.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.93 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $31.16 and a 1 year high of $107.24.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.43.

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.