Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Up 3.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s share price traded up 3.3% during trading on Tuesday after Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $161.48 and last traded at $158.5270. Approximately 4,633,471 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 5,126,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.52.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total value 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 trade represents a 25.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,088 shares of company stock worth $5,634,227. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Vistra in the third quarter valued at $38,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.72. The company has a market cap of $55.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Equities analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

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.