Morgan Stanley Increases Vistra (NYSE:VST) Price Target to $132.00

Vistra (NYSE:VST) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $132.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $99.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Six research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $110.83.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $114.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $39.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.07 and a beta of 1.08. Vistra has a 52 week low of $31.16 and a 52 week high of $122.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vistra will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 470.0% in the first 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 last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,910,015 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,523,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 468.2% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,128,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 115.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,488 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.