James Burke Sells 21,365 Shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 21,365 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.55, for a total transaction of $4,434,305.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 269,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,907,328.40. This trade represents a 7.35% 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 hyperlink.

Vistra Stock Down 6.1%

NYSE:VST opened at $197.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $66.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. Vistra Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $90.51 and a fifty-two week high of $219.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.84.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. Analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on VST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.85.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Vistra by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,660,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,228,880,000 after acquiring an additional 226,514 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,931 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Vistra by 4.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,884,000 after purchasing an additional 258,983 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vistra during the second quarter valued at about $930,080,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Vistra by 25.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,390,000 after buying an additional 913,350 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.