Analysts Set Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Target Price at $87.83

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

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield purchased 335 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $89.46 per share, with a total value of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,879,359.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 142.2% in the fourth quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 54,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 32,276 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Vistra by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 145,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,617,000 after buying an additional 5,619 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,716,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Vistra by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 115,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,453,000 after buying an additional 33,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Vistra by 633.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 58,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,260,000 after buying an additional 50,672 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST opened at $72.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 44.40 and a beta of 1.05. 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 $27.70 and a 52-week high of $107.24.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.2195 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. 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 yield of 1.21%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.37%.

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.