Vistra (NYSE:VST) Given New $125.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Vistra (NYSE:VST) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $120.00 to $125.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They set a buy rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $91.71.

Vistra Price Performance

Vistra stock opened at $107.77 on Friday. Vistra has a 52-week low of $31.16 and a 52-week high of $108.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.12 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a $0.2195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its position in Vistra by 470.0% in the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,569,000 after buying an additional 3,108,511 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Vistra by 9,668.5% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,779,000 after buying an additional 2,910,015 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $77,523,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 468.2% during the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,128,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 115.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.