Vistra (NYSE:VST) CEO Sells $8,339,882.32 in Stock

Key Points

• Vistra CEO James Burke sold 41,426 shares of stock for approximately $8.34 million, reducing his ownership stake by 14.39% to about 246,522 shares.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.226 per share, representing a slight increase from the previous dividend.
• Research analysts have a consensus target price of $227.58 for Vistra, with three analysts rating it as a Strong Buy.

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) CEO James Burke sold 41,426 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.32, for a total transaction of $8,339,882.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 246,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,629,809.04. The trade was a 14.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VST traded up $5.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.96. 5,408,336 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,782,403. The company has a market cap of $71.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.33. Vistra Corp. has a twelve month low of $90.51 and a twelve month high of $219.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.32.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th were given a $0.226 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the second quarter valued at about $930,080,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its position in Vistra by 40.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,864,931 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,149,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 280.6% in the second quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,356,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 25.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $879,390,000 after acquiring an additional 913,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.58.

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.

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