Vistra (NYSE:VST) Director Scott Helm Sells 25,000 Shares of Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Director Scott Helm sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,152,000. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vistra Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $163.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra Corp. has a 52 week low of $132.66 and a 52 week high of $219.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $154.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The company had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. 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%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the first quarter valued at approximately $10,543,000. Wealth High Governance Asset Management Ltda. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,980,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings in Vistra by 779.5% during the first quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 11,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vistra by 15.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $823,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $230.44.

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.