Brokerages Set Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Target Price at $172.69

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $176.92.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VST shares. Daiwa America raised Vistra to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Vistra from $134.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock.

Vistra Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:VST opened at $185.14 on Tuesday. Vistra has a 1-year low of $66.50 and a 1-year high of $199.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $5,650,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,073 shares in the company, valued at $14,218,505.12. This trade represents a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 108,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.98, for a total value of $16,953,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 218,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,259,158.22. This represents a 33.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 294,000 shares of company stock worth $47,461,490. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,539,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,174,326,000 after buying an additional 219,055 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,260,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after buying an additional 2,433,732 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Vistra by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,102,000 after purchasing an additional 11,386 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Vistra by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,083,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,166,000 after purchasing an additional 57,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $409,087,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Company Profile

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.