Vistra (NYSE:VST) CEO Sells $4,300,423.68 in Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 21,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.18, for a total value of $4,300,423.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 246,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,569,544.92. This trade represents a 7.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Vistra Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE VST opened at $202.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $200.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.53. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $90.51 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $68.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the first quarter worth about $341,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the first quarter worth about $432,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at about $547,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vistra by 29.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,021,000 after purchasing an additional 57,551 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. 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. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.71.

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.