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

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.221 per share on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Vistra has increased its dividend payment by an average of 15.0% annually over the last three years. Vistra has a payout ratio of 12.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Vistra to earn $6.07 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 14.7%.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $139.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $47.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.44. Vistra has a one year low of $37.38 and a one year high of $168.67.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Vistra from $157.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $149.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314 over the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.