Carrie Lee Kirby Sells 58,275 Shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $10,183,556.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 218,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,137,265.25. The trade was a 21.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Vistra Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VST stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $175.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,273,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,396,971. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.33 billion, a PE ratio of 63.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $197.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74. Vistra Corp. has a 52-week low of $90.51 and a 52-week high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.03). Vistra had a return on equity of 64.04% and a net margin of 6.70%.The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. Equities analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a $0.227 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 32.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in Vistra by 2,700.0% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Vistra during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $234.21.

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.