Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $230.6250.

VST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST opened at $162.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The stock has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.17 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra has a 12-month low of $132.66 and a 12-month high of $219.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.37.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 70,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,021,380. The trade was a 8.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 in the last quarter. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,519,000 after purchasing an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Vistra by 2.7% during 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 1.1% during 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vistra by 0.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,872,000 after buying an additional 35,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.