Jim Cramer Shuns This Stock, But It Has Left Nvidia, Super Micro Biting The Dust On One-Year Returns - NV

　　Source: Benzinga Pro

　　The buoyancy continued this year. So far in 2024, Vistra, a relatively new addition to the S&P 500 Index, added 138%, although underperforming Super Micro (+197%) and Nvidia (+159%).

　　Not Cramers Favorite: Despite its outperformance, Vistra has not cut ice with CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer. In the Lightning Round segment of his show on CNBC that was aired in mid-June, he said that Vistra is a momentum stock.

　　“Momentum stocks can't really withstand that kind of drop,” he said, referring to the pullback seen in the stock from a high of $107.24 reached on May 28.

　　That said, the stock picker does see some positives “I do think that it's the sweet spot of the energy, energy market,” he said, adding that he preferred Constellation Energy CorporationCEG over Vistra.

　　A week later, while reviewing the S&P 500 Index‘s performance for the first half and stocks that contributed to the upside, Cramer was slightly more optimistic. Vistra’s upside was due to the enormous power requirement of all new data centers that are currently being built, he said.

　　He added that the company is unique as it has several nuclear power plants, which are currently the only way to get reliable clean energy at scale.

　　Outlook: Vistra is an integrated retail electricity and power generation company providing power to customers, businesses, and communities from California to Maine. This Fortune 500 company serves 20 states and the District of Columbia.

　　Vistra is also one of the largest competitive power generators in the U.S., with a capacity of approximately 37,000 megawatts powered by a diverse portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities.

　　Vistra also owns and operates the 750-MW/3,000-MWh energy storage system in Moss Landing, California.

　　The companys first-quarter results released in early May showed that ongoing operations adjusted EBITDA came in at $813 million, nearly 50% year-over-year improvement. As Cramer suggested, the data center opportunity could have an augmenting effect on the top line.

　　The average analysts price target for Vistra, according to data compiled by TipRanks, is $108.17, and this suggests scope for about 18% upside.

　　The Texan company is a regular dividend payer, with the most recent quarterly dividend amounting to 21.75 cents.

　　Vistra closed Wednesdays session up 4.58% at $91.72, according to Benzinga Pro data

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