Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Vistra (NYSE:VST)

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $89.43.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST opened at $89.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.68 and a beta of 1.08. 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 one year low of $31.16 and a one year high of $107.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.90 and its 200-day moving average is $79.54.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. 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 dividend yield of 0.98%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 470.0% in the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108,511 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position 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 valued at $204,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,015 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at $77,523,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,754,223 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 115.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,488 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.