KBC Group NV Acquires 3,673 Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,475 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,673 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Vistra were worth $4,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Vistra by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its position in Vistra by 2.2% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 3.0% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,849,637.12. This trade represents a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 13.6 %

VST opened at $176.28 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $40.78 and a fifty-two week high of $199.84. The company has a market cap of $59.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.64.

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.