Vistra (NYSE:VST) Given New $191.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Vistra (NYSE:VST) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $151.00 to $191.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 1.70% from the stock’s current price.

VST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.20.

Vistra Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE VST traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $187.80. The company had a trading volume of 5,722,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,398,404. Vistra has a twelve month low of $39.13 and a twelve month high of $194.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $153.26 and its 200-day moving average is $118.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $4.01. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 57.63%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Vistra by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,818 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 11,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,536,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 29,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,064,000 after acquiring an additional 3,673 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,704 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.