Vistra (NYSE:VST) Hits New 12-Month High at $123.73

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $123.73 and last traded at $123.19, with a volume of 645390 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $122.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on VST shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.83.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $43.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.43 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.17.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were issued a $0.2195 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. M&R Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Vistra by 38,929.0% during the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,879,000 after purchasing an additional 116,787 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 68,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 17,502 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,829,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.