Vistra (NYSE:VST) CEO Sells $4,434,305.75 in Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 21,365 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.55, for a total value of $4,434,305.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 269,368 shares in the company, valued at $55,907,328.40. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock opened at $197.17 on Monday. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $200.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.80 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th were given a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. Vistra’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew 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 in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,931 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Vistra by 4.4% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,884,000 after purchasing an additional 258,983 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vistra during the second quarter worth $930,080,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Vistra by 25.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,390,000 after buying an additional 913,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.