Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.43.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VST shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd.

Vistra Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE VST opened at $92.71 on Friday. Vistra has a 12 month low of $31.16 and a 12 month high of $107.24. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.85 billion, a PE ratio of 56.90 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.12.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued 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). Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Vistra will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $375,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 43,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Vistra by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 145,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,617,000 after purchasing an additional 5,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 73.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.