Margaret Montemayor Sells 5,000 Shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,368,825.60. This represents a 25.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Vistra Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of VST opened at $160.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. Vistra Corp. has a 12-month low of $132.66 and a 12-month high of $219.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.43.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.3 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VST. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Vistra by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,891,000 after buying an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vistra by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,872,000 after purchasing an additional 35,258 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vistra

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.