Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $178.6923.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VST. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $134.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $216.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST stock opened at $209.40 on Wednesday. Vistra has a 12-month low of $70.00 and a 12-month high of $216.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.29 and a 200-day moving average of $155.69.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.15%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $5,650,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 88,073 shares in the company, valued at $14,218,505.12. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.67, for a total transaction of $4,291,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,037,649.82. This represents a 24.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 294,000 shares of company stock worth $47,461,490. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 117.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 70,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,745,000 after purchasing an additional 9,003 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $230,000. Sunburst Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,060,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.