Vistra (NYSE:VST) Director Sells $37,332.00 in Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Director Paul Barbas sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vistra Price Performance

VST traded up $5.01 on Tuesday, hitting $158.53. 4,650,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,135,272. Vistra Corp. has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $153.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $746,729,000. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $574,499,000. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,660,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Vistra by 72.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,949,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,524,000 after purchasing an additional 817,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 585.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 907,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,425,000 after purchasing an additional 775,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VST. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, April 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.33.

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.