Vistra Corp. (VST) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 20th

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a 1.1% increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Vistra has raised its dividend by an average of 13.3% annually over the last three years. Vistra has a payout ratio of 11.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Price Performance

Shares of VST stock opened at $126.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. Vistra has a 12 month low of $60.86 and a 12 month high of $199.84. The company has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on VST shares. Bank of America upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John William Pitesa purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $126.75 per share, for a total transaction of $190,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $439,442.25. This trade represents a 76.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 24,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.19, for a total value of $2,997,449.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,341,513.97. This trade represents a 32.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

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.