Head-To-Head Contrast: Vistra (VST) vs. Its Rivals

Vistra (NYSE:VST) is one of 141 publicly-traded companies in the “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Vistra to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.9% of Vistra shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of shares of all “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Vistra shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of shares of all “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vistra and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vistra	$17.74 billion	$944.00 million	21.04
Vistra Competitors	$8.70 billion	$801.06 million	-2.66

Vistra has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Vistra is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Vistra and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vistra	11.55%	108.68%	7.67%
Vistra Competitors	-33.53%	10.63%	0.87%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Vistra and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vistra	1	3	19	1	2.83
Vistra Competitors	962	2982	3817	187	2.41

Vistra presently has a consensus price target of $205.00, suggesting a potential upside of 64.62%. As a group, “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies have a potential upside of 149.75%. Given Vistra’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vistra has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Vistra pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vistra pays out 15.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.5% and pay out 231.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Vistra has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Vistra has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vistra’s competitors have a beta of -51.27, meaning that their average share price is 5,227% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vistra beats its competitors on 12 of the 15 factors compared.

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. In addition, the company is involved in the electricity generation, wholesale energy purchases and sales, commodity risk management, fuel production, and fuel logistics management activities. It serves approximately 4 million customers with a generation capacity of approximately 37,000 megawatts with a portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. The company was formerly known as Vistra Energy Corp. and changed its name to Vistra Corp. in July 2020. Vistra Corp. was founded in 1882 and is based in Irving, Texas.