Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 1.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) were up 1.1% on Wednesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $293.00 to $298.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Vistra traded as high as $166.94 and last traded at $160.2380. 5,497,729 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 5,012,522 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.43.

VST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $230.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 70,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,021,380. This trade represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 in the last quarter. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 28,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 8,312 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Vistra by 37.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the second quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP raised its holdings in Vistra by 20.0% in the second quarter. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $153.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. As a group, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a $0.229 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 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 presently 15.24%.

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.