Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Vistra Corp. received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from 17 research firms, with an average 12-month price target of approximately $217.13.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.226 per share, with a new dividend yield of 0.4%.
• CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of Vistra stock, resulting in a 16.56% decrease in his ownership of the company shares.

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $217.1333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VST. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vistra from $227.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total transaction of $8,991,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. This represents a 16.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 233,569 shares of company stock worth $48,915,316 in the last three months. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 4.0% during the second quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734 shares of the company's stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.2% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the company's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.9% during the second quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the company's stock worth $1,531,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3.1% during the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3.1% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the company's stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of VST stock opened at $202.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $199.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The company has a market capitalization of $68.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.33. Vistra has a 12-month low of $90.51 and a 12-month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. As a group, analysts predict that Vistra will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

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.

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