Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 1.4% – What’s Next?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price rose 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $154.16 and last traded at $153.7770. Approximately 2,185,581 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 5,420,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $191.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $236.87.

Vistra Stock Up 1.4%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $160.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($0.27). Vistra had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 81.09%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.228 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 41.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total transaction of $1,603,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,340,906.79. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in Vistra by 2,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Vistra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.