Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.22.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST stock opened at $132.31 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98. Vistra has a 52-week low of $31.43 and a 52-week high of $143.87. The stock has a market cap of $45.46 billion, a PE ratio of 97.29 and a beta of 1.10.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Vistra will post 4.7 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.2195 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.71%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in Vistra by 470.0% during the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108,511 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Vistra by 9,668.5% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,015 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vistra by 468.2% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,128,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,006,000 after buying an additional 1,754,223 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after buying an additional 1,356,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Vistra by 1,358.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,596,000 after buying an additional 1,143,918 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.