Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Up to $92.74

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $92.74, but opened at $99.73. Vistra shares last traded at $100.64, with a volume of 2,905,182 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.43.

Vistra Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.21. The company has a market capitalization of $34.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.74 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 3.0% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Vistra by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.