James Burke Sells 2,005 Shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 2,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.15, for a total value of $387,265.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 290,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,062,560.10. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Vistra Trading Up 5.4%

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $201.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $68.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.33. 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 Corp. has a 1 year low of $90.51 and a 1 year high of $219.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $199.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a $0.226 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. 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. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Melius initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.31.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Vistra by 1.9% in the first 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. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $547,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vistra by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,021,000 after purchasing an additional 57,551 shares during the period. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 2,540.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.