Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $125.00. The stock had previously closed at $92.74, but opened at $99.73. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Vistra shares last traded at $100.64, with a volume of 2,905,182 shares trading hands.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Vistra in the first quarter valued at $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Vistra during the first quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.71. The company has a market capitalization of $37.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.18 and a beta of 1.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 53.37%.

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.