Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 4% on Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares were up 4% during trading on Friday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $141.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Vistra traded as high as $137.81 and last traded at $137.78. Approximately 4,545,655 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 6,830,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.45.

VST has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.14.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VST. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in Vistra by 4.9% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 5.0% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Up 3.8 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.56 and its 200 day moving average is $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $47.78 billion, a PE ratio of 84.36 and a beta of 1.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th were issued a $0.2195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.