Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $161.00 to $174.00. The stock had previously closed at $149.66, but opened at $154.36. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vistra shares last traded at $156.27, with a volume of 1,271,424 shares.

VST has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at $41,849,637.12. This 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 three months. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Vistra by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,488 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1,358.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,918 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,938,752,000 after buying an additional 1,037,402 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 36.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,320,000 after buying an additional 1,000,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Vistra by 315.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,175,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,096,000 after buying an additional 893,093 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $55.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $143.91 and a 200-day moving average of $111.31.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.221 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 16.42%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.