Vistra (NYSE:VST) Research Coverage Started at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $202.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vistra from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.20.

Vistra Stock Up 2.6 %

Vistra stock opened at $191.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $65.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.39. Vistra has a 12 month low of $39.13 and a 12 month high of $199.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Vistra will post 4.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $0.221 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 16.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at $47,990,029.50. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $41,849,637.12. This trade represents a 31.09 % 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 over the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Vistra in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.