Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 5% Following Insider Selling

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s share price dropped 5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $188.54 and last traded at $189.4710. Approximately 3,770,664 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 6,518,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.37.

Specifically, CEO James A. Burke sold 20,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.64, for a total transaction of $4,169,121.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,881,639.88. This trade represents a 6.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Burke sold 19,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $3,669,984.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 295,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,205,826.48. The trade was a 6.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 19,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.46, for a total transaction of $3,850,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 297,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,432,901.34. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa America upgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.93.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $64.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $199.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. On average, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Effects LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vistra by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Forefront Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vistra by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 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.