Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.21 Per Share

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 2nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.206 per share on Friday, September 29th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 19th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Vistra has increased its dividend payment by an average of 13.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Vistra has a dividend payout ratio of 21.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Vistra to earn $4.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.82 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.1%.

Vistra Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of VST opened at $32.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.97. Vistra has a 1 year low of $20.76 and a 1 year high of $34.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 22.75% and a net margin of 9.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vistra will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Julie A. Lagacy acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.84 per share, with a total value of $248,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $420,367.32. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Julie A. Lagacy bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.84 per share, for a total transaction of $248,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 16,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $420,367.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 107,466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $3,247,622.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 137,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,163,772.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 44.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 2,324.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. TheStreet raised Vistra from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Vistra from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Vistra from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd.

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 20 states in the United States and the District of Columbia.