James Burke Sells 21,355 Shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 21,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.21, for a total transaction of $4,595,809.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 282,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,817,700.37. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $201.53 on Friday. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $90.51 and a 52 week high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.14, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $200.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.84.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS 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 paid a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.9% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the first quarter valued at $341,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at $432,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at $547,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Vistra by 29.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,021,000 after buying an additional 57,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VST. Daiwa America raised shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Vistra from $229.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.31.

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.