Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.22

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.2235 per share on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Vistra has a payout ratio of 10.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Vistra to earn $6.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.1%.

Vistra Stock Down 7.8 %

VST stock opened at $150.51 on Friday. 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 has a twelve month low of $46.18 and a twelve month high of $199.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $160.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.33. The stock has a market cap of $51.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $206.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.64.

Vistra announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.42% 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.