Bank of America Begins Coverage on Vistra (NYSE:VST)

Bank of America started coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $206.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on VST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.64.

Vistra Price Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $136.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $156.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.79. Vistra has a 1-year low of $40.54 and a 1-year high of $199.84.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 57.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vistra will post 4.48 EPS for the current 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 boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 16.60%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $33,413,514.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 318,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,352,424.58. This represents a 39.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in Vistra by 232.6% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 40,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,247,000 after acquiring an additional 28,300 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 38.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 67,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,838,000 after purchasing an additional 18,740 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 52.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 58,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,015,000 after purchasing an additional 19,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seaport Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $816,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.