Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Up 4% on Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares rose 4% during trading on Friday 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 $137.81 and last traded at $137.78. Approximately 4,545,655 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 6,830,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.45.

Several other research firms also recently commented on VST. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $118.14.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

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

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $47.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.89 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.23. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The company 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.