Vistra (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke Sells 21,364 Shares

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 21,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.63, for a total value of $4,478,535.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,020,198.52. The trade was a 7.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Vistra Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE VST opened at $210.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.32. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $90.51 and a 12 month high of $219.82. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. On average, analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were given a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VST shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Cowen started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (down previously from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given 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 $227.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.4% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864,931 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,884,000 after acquiring an additional 258,983 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $930,080,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,390,000 after acquiring an additional 913,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.