Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.83.

Several analysts have weighed in on VST shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th.

Vistra Stock Up 14.8 %

VST stock opened at $79.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. Vistra has a 52 week low of $27.54 and a 52 week high of $107.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.53 billion, a PE ratio of 48.60 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.89 and a 200 day moving average of $71.19.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.37%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield acquired 335 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,108,511 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 9,668.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,779,000 after buying an additional 2,910,015 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $77,523,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 468.2% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,128,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,006,000 after buying an additional 1,754,223 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,202,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.