Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Raises Dividend to $0.22 Per Share

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of 0.2235 per share on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Vistra has a payout ratio of 10.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Vistra to earn $6.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.1%.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST traded down $12.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $150.51. 9,944,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,293,202. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Vistra has a fifty-two week low of $46.18 and a fifty-two week high of $199.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $206.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.64.

Vistra announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.