Vistra (NYSE:VST) Receives Outperform Rating from BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets restated their outperform rating on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $146.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $125.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on VST. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Seven 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $118.14.

Vistra Trading Up 4.5 %

Vistra stock traded up $5.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.41. The company had a trading volume of 12,401,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,353,454. Vistra has a 12-month low of $31.22 and a 12-month high of $139.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.89 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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). Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vistra will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a $0.2195 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Vistra’s payout ratio is 53.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,108,511 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 9,668.5% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,015 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 468.2% in 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Vistra by 115.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,758,000 after buying an additional 1,356,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Vistra by 1,358.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after buying an additional 1,143,918 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.