Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $69.00, but opened at $82.44. Vistra shares last traded at $79.70, with a volume of 3,548,545 shares trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 53.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VST. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Guggenheim raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $87.83.

Vistra Trading Down 4.8 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.59 and a 200-day moving average of $71.51. The company has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.41 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. On average, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield purchased 335 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 32,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Vistra in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 160.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Vistra in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.