Empire Life Investments Inc. Acquires Shares of 194,266 Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Empire Life Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 194,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,028,000. Vistra accounts for 1.4% of Empire Life Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 470.0% during the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,569,000 after buying an additional 3,108,511 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 9,668.5% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,015 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 115.3% during the 2nd 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 period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 1,358.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew 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 worth $101,096,000 after acquiring an additional 893,093 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $119.51 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $108.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.85. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $33.84 and a twelve month high of $143.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vistra from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Vistra from $157.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.40.

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.