Vistra (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke Sells 19,596 Shares

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 19,596 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.43, for a total value of $3,947,222.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 266,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,728,028.19. This trade represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Vistra Stock Down 6.1%

VST opened at $197.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.51. Vistra Corp. has a 1-year low of $90.51 and a 1-year high of $219.82. The stock has a market cap of $66.80 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.33.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,680,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $341,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $432,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $547,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 29.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,021,000 after buying an additional 57,551 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $216.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday. Melius Research raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.85.

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.