Vistra (NYSE:VST) Upgraded at Mizuho

Vistra (NYSE:VST) was upgraded by stock analysts at Mizuho to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on VST. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Vistra from $222.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.53.

Vistra Trading Down 0.3%

Vistra stock opened at $135.74 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Vistra has a 12-month low of $132.66 and a 12-month high of $219.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.72.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vistra will post 9.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $1,105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 70,714 shares in the company, valued at $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Vistra by 15,825.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,386,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,896,343,000 after purchasing an additional 61,994,589 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after buying an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $746,729,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Vistra

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower?carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.