Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading 2.3% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price traded up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $99.00 to $137.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vistra traded as high as $118.38 and last traded at $114.99. 3,578,131 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 6,687,053 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.40.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VST. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vistra by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at $510,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Vistra by 106.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 111,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,308,000 after buying an additional 57,538 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank purchased a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vistra by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.57. The stock has a market cap of $39.83 billion, a PE ratio of 70.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.69). The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 53.99%.

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.