Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $217.92, but opened at $210.11. Vistra shares last traded at $208.44, with a volume of 1,214,135 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.18, for a total transaction of $4,554,803.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,159,734.36. The trade was a 8.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.50, for a total value of $4,517,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 233,242 shares in the company, valued at $49,330,683. This trade represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.78, for a total transaction of $4,565,913.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 225,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,170,833.62. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa America raised Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Melius started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $213.00.

Vistra Trading Down 6.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $69.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.33. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $198.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.87.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $930,080,000. 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 worth $1,253,896,000 after buying an additional 1,864,931 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $209,149,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 280.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,356,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,876,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,390,000 after buying an additional 913,350 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.