Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading 2.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) rose 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $128.70 and last traded at $127.99. Approximately 1,706,256 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 6,960,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.30.

Vistra Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $43.13 billion, a PE ratio of 94.11 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.93.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a $0.2195 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Values First Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Vistra by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 5,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the third quarter worth about $654,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 14,657.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 420,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,856,000 after acquiring an additional 417,730 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co. lifted its position in Vistra by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 21,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Vistra by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 16,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.