$3 Billion Hedge Fund’s Top 10 Stock Bets

5. Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Return since Q1 End: -0.7%

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is a power generation company that is also involved in electricity generation and wholesale energy purchases and sales. It has about 5 million customers for its 41,000-megawatt portfolio of natural gas, coal, nuclear, and solar assets, as well as battery storage facilities.

Shahriar Pourreza, a Guggenheim analyst, believes that VST is a “unicorn” for its portfolio of both gas and nuclear power plants. Adding further in his note to clients on Vistra Corp (NYSE:VST) he stated that data centers are exploring 24-hour power sources that are clean and “nuclear plants are a very strong avenue for that”. He holds a “Buy” recommendation with a Street-high price target of $133 on the stock.

According to the Regulatory filings, Cinctive Capital Management owned 531,789 shares in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) at the end of the first quarter of 2024 worth over $37 million, representing 1.72% of the portfolio. Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Lone Pine Capital is a leading shareholder in Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) with over 6 million shares worth $446 million.

Meridian Hedged Equity Fund stated the following regarding Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is an integrated retail electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas. It operates in 12 states and six of the seven competitive markets in the U.S. Vistra’s retail brands serve approximately 2.9 million customers and its power generation fleet totals approximately 41,000 megawatts of natural gas, nuclear, coal, and solar facilities. Vistra was a top performer in the strategy over the past quarter, with its shares rallying over 80%. A key driver has been the thesis that the projected growth of power-hungry data centers, spurred by the rise of generative AI, will increase electricity demand and power prices. This is expected to significantly benefit incumbent power generators like Vistra. The company’s efficient generation portfolio, especially its nuclear and natural gas plants, is well-positioned to capitalize on rising demand, scarcity pricing, and ancillary services in the Texas power market. Vistra is also pursuing opportunities to potentially sign high-margin power offtake agreements directly with data center customers for its nuclear plants, similar to a recent deal by peer Talen Energy and Amazon. We continue to like Vistra’s strong free cash flow generation supporting continued share buybacks and debt reduction, synergies from the recent Energy Harbor acquisition, and a favorable power market backdrop with rising spark spreads. We trimmed the stock following its strong performance during the period.”