Vistra (NYSE:VST) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST) reached a new 52-week high of $217.90 during Monday trading, closing at $215.46 with a volume of over 1.6 million shares.
• The company has received mixed ratings from analysts, with two analysts recommending a strong buy while others have issued a sell rating, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Vistra recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.226 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 14.35%.

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $217.90 and last traded at $215.46, with a volume of 1607146 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $209.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. Melius started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $295.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Vistra from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. 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 report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $216.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $210.71.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.68. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Vistra's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,361 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.56, for a total transaction of $4,540,494.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 227,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,456,878.08. The trade was a 8.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 148,121 shares of company stock worth $30,849,036 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,660,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,228,880,000 after acquiring an additional 226,514 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,253,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864,931 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,196,884,000 after acquiring an additional 258,983 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $930,080,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $879,390,000 after acquiring an additional 913,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.