New Century Financial Group LLC Has $381,000 Stock Holdings in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,760 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 94 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Vistra were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Vistra by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,938,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,402 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Vistra by 51.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,826,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,609,000 after buying an additional 1,293,974 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 36.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,320,000 after buying an additional 1,000,307 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 33.5% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,610,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,422,000 after buying an additional 654,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 60.1% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,125,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,898,000 after buying an additional 797,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of Vistra 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314 over the last ninety days. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VST. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.20.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $191.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $156.19 and its 200 day moving average is $120.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $39.69 and a fifty-two week high of $199.84.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 57.63%. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $0.221 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 16.60%.

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.