Vistra (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke Sells 22,251 Shares

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CEO James Burke sold 22,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.05, for a total value of $3,605,774.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 297,998 shares in the company, valued at $48,290,575.90. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $168.36. 4,284,902 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,876,534. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $184.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $90.51 and a twelve month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). Vistra had a return on equity of 64.04% and a net margin of 6.70%.The company had revenue of $4.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. On average, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.227 per share. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $217.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa America raised Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Cowen assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Vistra by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,660,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,228,880,000 after purchasing an additional 226,514 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 15.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,106,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,392,299,000 after buying an additional 930,912 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864,931 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at $930,080,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,872,000 after acquiring an additional 35,258 shares in 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.