Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Lifted to “Hold” by Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on VST. BNP Paribas Exane set a $255.00 target price on Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $228.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. UBS Group set a $176.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Seaport Research Partners reduced their target price on shares of Vistra from $226.00 to $202.00 in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital set a $194.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.45.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST traded down $1.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $132.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,206,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,001,420. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.96. Vistra has a 1-year low of $110.89 and a 1-year high of $189.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 6th. The company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.25. Vistra had a return on equity of 113.41% and a net margin of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.2310 per share. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.43%.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 6th that allows the company to buy back $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 44,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.82, for a total transaction of $6,747,488.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 331,137 shares in the company, valued at $50,273,219.34. The trade was a 11.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James Burke purchased 4,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,146,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $155,044,108. The trade was a 0.39% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Vistra during the second quarter valued at about $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vistra by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,850,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,672,987,000 after acquiring an additional 79,972 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Vistra by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,616,000 after purchasing an additional 32,982 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $381,938,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Recent Vistra Headlines

These are some of the VST headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Siebert Williams Shank assigned Vistra a Buy rating, while a separate report said the firm sees roughly 50% upside despite the stock’s disappointing performance over the past year. Siebert Buy rating Siebert upside view
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street Zen also upgraded Vistra to Buy, adding another favorable analyst signal. Wall Street Zen upgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Vistra recorded a $269 million long-lived asset impairment in the third quarter, reflecting revised assessments of future cash flows and recoverable asset values. The charge may weigh on reported results and raise questions about the affected assets’ outlook. Asset impairment report

About Vistra

Vistra Corp. is an integrated energy company that generates and sells electricity and provides related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its retail businesses offer electricity plans and energy services through brands that include TXU Energy and Ambit Energy. The company owns and operates a diverse generation fleet, including natural gas, nuclear, coal and solar facilities, as well as battery energy storage systems. Its operations serve customers and wholesale power markets across multiple U.S. regions, including Texas and the eastern and central United States.