Paul Barbas Sells 244 Shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Director Paul Barbas sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.93, for a total transaction of $36,094.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,877,272.50. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST opened at $158.57 on Thursday. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $153.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The firm has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $746,729,000. Payden & Rygel increased its position in shares of Vistra by 3,118.2% during the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,300 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,875,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Vistra by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,768,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,343,000 after acquiring an additional 192,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 188,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,479,000 after acquiring an additional 48,378 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on Vistra in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $230.44.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.