Brokerages Set Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Target Price at $234.21

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $234.2143.

A number of brokerages recently commented on VST. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Melius began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.86, for a total transaction of $9,456,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 306,600 shares in the company, valued at $51,772,476. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $4,091,535.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 271,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,563,433.22. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 860,120 shares of company stock valued at $171,817,820 over the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ELCO Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at $499,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at $547,000. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at about $258,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 6,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 22,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,346,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $175.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.41 and a 200-day moving average of $187.54. Vistra has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The stock has a market cap of $59.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.30. 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) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 64.04% and a net margin of 6.70%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra 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 Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.227 dividend. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

About Vistra

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.