Stephanie Zapata Moore Sells 8,219 Shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 8,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total value of $1,424,763.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 79,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,842,690.90. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock opened at $177.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.55. The stock has a market cap of $60.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $90.51 and a 1 year high of $219.82.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 14.0% in the third quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 4,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 7.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 35,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter worth $8,755,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Vistra by 1.5% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Vistra by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 15,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,039,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $233.20.

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.