Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading 0.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) were up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $151.00 to $191.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Vistra traded as high as $194.67 and last traded at $186.43. Approximately 4,780,495 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 7,334,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.35.

VST has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $33,413,514.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 318,287 shares in the company, valued at $51,352,424.58. This represents a 39.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314 in the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. The company has a market cap of $63.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 57.63%. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $0.221 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.60%.

Vistra announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.