Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Up 1.1% – Here’s Why
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemVistra Corp. (NYSE:VST – Get Free Report) shot up 1.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $164.21 and last traded at $163.42. 4,597,465 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 6,038,601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.70.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
VST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Vistra from $287.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $217.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $236.40.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Vistra
Vistra Stock Up 1.1%
The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.98. The company has a market cap of $55.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.88.
Vistra (NYSE:VST – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 82.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.
Vistra Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a $0.228 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 41.94%.
Insider Transactions at Vistra
In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 22,251 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.05, for a total value of $3,605,774.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 297,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,290,575.90. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,519,000 after purchasing an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,660,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,228,880,000 after purchasing an additional 226,514 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vistra by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Vistra by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,106,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,392,299,000 after buying an additional 930,912 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $930,080,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.
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.