Vistra (NYSE:VST) Director Paul Barbas Sells 244 Shares

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Director Paul Barbas sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.93, for a total transaction of $36,094.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,877,272.50. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST stock opened at $158.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $53.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.85. Vistra Corp. has a one year low of $132.66 and a one year high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid a $0.229 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $746,729,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $574,499,000. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $322,660,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Vistra by 72.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,949,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,524,000 after buying an additional 817,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 585.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 907,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,425,000 after buying an additional 775,104 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.