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

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) rose 2.3% 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. Approximately 3,578,131 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 6,687,053 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.40.

VST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.83.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings 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 worth $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position 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. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $39.68 billion, a PE ratio of 70.07 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.06.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a $0.2195 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s dividend 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.