B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,355 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 94.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,853 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vistra were worth $622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Vistra by 115.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,488 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Vistra by 1,358.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,918 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Vistra by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,402 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 315.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,175,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,096,000 after buying an additional 893,093 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $132.89 on Thursday. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $37.38 and a 12-month high of $168.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $140.12 and a 200-day moving average of $106.73. 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 stock has a market cap of $45.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.16.

Vistra announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Vistra’s payout ratio is 16.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VST. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Vistra from $157.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.10.

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.