Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 6.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) were up 6.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday 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 $133.93 and last traded at $133.39. Approximately 4,641,272 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 6,793,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.37.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.60. 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 stock has a market cap of $46.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.83 and a beta of 1.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th were issued a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 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.