We recently published a list of Joe DiMenna’s Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stocks to Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) stands against other top stocks to buy of Joe DiMenna’s portfolio.
Zweig-DiMenna Associates Inc. is a U.S.-based hedge fund with a legacy spanning four decades. Established in 1984 by Joseph A. DiMenna and Martin Zweig, the firm specializes in absolute return investing. Its strategies encompass fundamental long/short equities and global macro approaches, positioning it among the longest-running hedge funds in the industry. DiMenna serves as the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, overseeing the firm’s partnerships and investment funds.
DiMenna’s initiation into the financial world began as a college student in 1977 when he became a research assistant for renowned investor Martin Zweig. A keen student of stock markets since his early teens, DiMenna had been an avid reader of financial newsletters, particularly Zweig’s highly regarded The Zweig Forecast. He earned a B.S. in Finance from Fairfield University’s Dolan School of Business in 1980. Beyond his work in finance, he has contributed to various organizations, serving on the boards of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Brearley School, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and the New York Historical Society.
Zweig, a Ph.D. in finance, was known for his data-driven market analysis and the development of key investor sentiment indicators, including the Put/Call ratio. His well-known investment maxims, such as “Don’t fight the Fed” and “Don’t fight the tape,” significantly influenced DiMenna’s approach. Their professional relationship began when DiMenna, impressed by Zweig’s insights, reached out to him with market ideas and a request for a college recommendation. This correspondence led to his recruitment as a research assistant, a role that involved extensive data analysis, often delving into market trends spanning over 50 years. Zweig remained a key figure in DiMenna’s career until his passing in 2013.
After graduating in 1980, DiMenna continued working with Zweig, refining market research techniques and stock selection strategies. He took on editorial responsibilities for a stock-focused newsletter and co-developed a mutual fund trading business based on market timing principles. By 1983, DiMenna proposed leveraging their expertise to launch a hedge fund, a relatively rare venture at the time, with fewer than ten such funds in existence. In 1984, they established the first Zweig-DiMenna partnership, followed by the launch of Zweig-DiMenna International Limited in 1987. Their approach combined long/short equity investing with macroeconomic risk management. DiMenna led the stock selection and investment process, while Zweig focused on broader market conditions, shaping strategies that DiMenna implemented.
The fund quickly gained prominence for its strong returns. In 1999, BusinessWeek recognized DiMenna as “one of the best stock-pickers no one has ever heard of,” highlighting the fund’s impressive 15-year annualized return of 25% after fees, significantly outperforming the broader market’s 18.6% annualized total return.
DiMenna’s achievements earned him several accolades. In 2002, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship named him “Entrepreneur of the Year” for his contributions to financial education. The Zweig-DiMenna International hedge fund won Absolute Return Magazine’s “U.S. Equity Fund of the Year” award in 2007 after delivering an 82.25% annual return, far surpassing industry peers. In 2008, Alpha Magazine ranked DiMenna 13th on its list of top moneymakers, citing his $450 million earnings in 2007 and his fund’s consistent double-digit annual returns between 2002 and 2007.
Our Methodology
The stocks discussed below were picked from Zweig-DiMenna Associates’ Q4 2024 13F filings. They are compiled in the ascending order of the hedge fund’s stake in them as of December 31, 2024. To assist readers with more context, we have included the hedge fund sentiment regarding each stock using data from 1008 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
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Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q4: 120
Zweig-DiMenna Associates’ Equity Stake: $34.82 Million
Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST), a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Irving, Texas, is a leading integrated retail electricity and power generation provider. In Q3 2024, the company demonstrated strong financial performance, with revenue surging 54% year-over-year to $6.29 billion. Operating profit saw an even more significant increase of 207%, reaching $2.59 billion, highlighting improved operational efficiency and expanded margins. However, despite these positive results, earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.11, falling short of analyst projections of $2.24 by 50%.
On February 21, 2025, Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share on its common stock, amounting to approximately $75 million in total payouts. Shareholders of record as of March 20, 2025, will receive their dividends on March 31, 2025. Additionally, the company announced a semi-annual dividend of $40.00 per preferred share for its 8.0% Series A Fixed-Rate Reset Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, payable on April 15, 2025. These consistent dividend payments underscore Vistra’s commitment to returning value to shareholders and maintaining financial stability.
Investors eagerly anticipate Vistra’s upcoming earnings report, scheduled for release on February 27, 2025. Analysts predict the company will report EPS of $1.59, reflecting a remarkable 431.25% year-over-year increase, alongside revenue projections of $4.38 billion, marking a 42.34% rise from the previous year. Despite the recent EPS miss, Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) remains a compelling investment due to its strong revenue growth, significant profit expansion, and commitment to shareholder returns. The company’s ability to capitalize on the rising demand for electricity while maintaining operational efficiency positions it well for long-term value creation.
Meridian Hedged Equity Fund stated the following regarding Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is an integrated retail electricity and power generation company, primarily serving Texas and the Midwest. We own Vistra because we expect power markets to continue tightening as baseload supply declines, coupled with rising demand from data centers, electric vehicles, and manufacturing reshoring. These factors create a favorable pricing environment for Vistra’s generation fleet, especially its nuclear and gas assets. The stock performed well during the period for three key reasons: tightening energy markets and strengthened pricing in forward-year energy contracts, the continuation of Vistra’s aggressive share repurchase program, and the company’s announced plan to acquire the remaining interest in Vistra Vision at an attractive valuation. Additionally, the company reaffirmed its 2024 guidance, indicating that results are trending toward the upper end of the previously projected range. We took advantage of the stock’s strength this quarter to trim our position.”
Overall, VST ranks 8th on our list of top stocks to buy of Joe DiMenna’s portfolio. While we acknowledge the potential for VST as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VST but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.