Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Up 9.6%

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price was up 9.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $89.74 and last traded at $89.57. Approximately 3,891,118 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 6,027,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.20.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $31.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.99.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a $0.218 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 24.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,470,448. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at $9,470,448. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 19,070.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,537,584 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,523,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 468.2% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,128,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754,223 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Vistra during the third quarter worth $57,218,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 509.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,734,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449,905 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by 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.