Vistra (NYSE:VST) CEO Sells $4,371,865.47 in Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 21,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.57, for a total transaction of $4,371,865.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 287,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,887,315.63. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Vistra Price Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $190.44 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The company has a market cap of $64.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $199.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were paid a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on VST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $229.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vistra during the second quarter worth about $930,080,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 40.5% in the second 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter worth about $209,149,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 280.6% in the second quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,356,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 25.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.