Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Raises Dividend to $0.22 Per Share

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.218 per share on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Vistra has raised its dividend by an average of 15.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. Vistra has a payout ratio of 17.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Vistra to earn $4.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.1%.

Vistra Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:VST traded up $1.62 on Friday, hitting $81.49. 5,588,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,651,998. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.79 and a 200-day moving average of $48.06. The stock has a market cap of $28.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. Vistra has a fifty-two week low of $22.69 and a fifty-two week high of $83.03.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vistra will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VST. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

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

About Vistra

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.