Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 6.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s share price was up 6.4% during trading on Thursday 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 $197.56 and last traded at $198.83. Approximately 3,407,841 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 7,314,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.86.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on VST. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Lionsbridge Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $277,000. Empire Life Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth about $23,028,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 78,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,361,000 after acquiring an additional 6,920 shares in the last quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the third quarter worth about $842,000. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in Vistra by 12.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 69,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,747 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $67.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.89.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $0.221 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 16.60%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Vistra

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.