Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.20.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 25th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Vistra Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE:VST opened at $70.46 on Thursday. Vistra has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $75.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.81.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). Vistra had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 24.02%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,470,448. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total value of $5,734,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,470,448. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,146,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,779,000 after acquiring an additional 300,355 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Vistra by 19,070.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,426,000 after buying an additional 5,537,584 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Vistra by 12.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,551,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,186,000 after buying an additional 597,875 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Vistra by 12.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,190,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,228,000 after buying an additional 575,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Vistra by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,797,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,800,000 after buying an additional 282,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.