Vistra (NYSE:VST) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VSTGet Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day 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 $194.67 and last traded at $186.79, with a volume of 8986314 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $185.35.

VST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.20.

View Our Latest Report on Vistra

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $51,352,424.58. This represents a 39.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314 in the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VST. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 189.0% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 47,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,074,000 after buying an additional 30,988 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,943,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Vistra by 177.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Vistra by 78.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 55,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,761,000 after acquiring an additional 24,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $312,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $65.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, 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 moving average price of $155.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.39.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 16.60%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Vistra

(Get Free Report)

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.

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