Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $141.00. The stock had previously closed at $125.37, but opened at $128.40. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Vistra shares last traded at $133.37, with a volume of 3,362,027 shares traded.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on VST. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the second quarter worth about $26,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Up 4.5 %

The company has a market cap of $47.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.89 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $87.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.23.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th were given a $0.2195 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Vistra’s payout ratio is 53.99%.

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.