Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Up 9.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) traded up 9.2% on Friday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $125.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Vistra traded as high as $102.82 and last traded at $100.99. 5,994,213 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 6,537,883 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.52.

VST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

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

Vistra Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.18 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 (NYSE:VST) last posted 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 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 company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

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.