Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) rose 0.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $128.26 and last traded at $125.73. Approximately 1,063,082 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 6,927,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Vistra from $157.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, October 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.30.

Vistra Trading Down 1.2 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.43 and a 200 day moving average of $90.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the third quarter valued at $842,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in Vistra by 12.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 69,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,747 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the third quarter valued at about $1,185,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter worth about $1,675,000. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 38,929.0% in the third quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,879,000 after buying an additional 116,787 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.