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

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $166.58.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VST shares. Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vistra from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Daiwa America raised Vistra to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Vistra from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Vistra Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $154.42 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $128.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.06. The company has a market cap of $52.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. Vistra has a 1 year low of $66.50 and a 1 year high of $199.84.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This is a boost from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.80, for a total value of $3,136,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 325,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,990,105.60. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John William Pitesa purchased 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $126.75 per share, with a total value of $190,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $439,442.25. The trade was a 76.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 208,136 shares of company stock valued at $31,879,290. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $409,087,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,260,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $863,116,000 after buying an additional 2,433,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $286,414,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at about $209,149,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $237,441,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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