Vistra (NYSE:VST) Price Target Raised to $79.00 at Evercore ISI

Vistra (NYSE:VST) had its price target raised by Evercore ISI from $72.00 to $79.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

VST has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $63.50.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of VST opened at $70.53 on Thursday. Vistra has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $75.89. The company has a market cap of $24.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.06 and a 200-day moving average of $42.32.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). Vistra had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 24.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total value of $4,556,207.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares in the company, valued at $11,536,508.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Vistra news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total value of $4,556,207.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares in the company, valued at $11,536,508.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at $9,470,448. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397. 1.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $189,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth about $471,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Vistra by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth about $3,659,000. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 39,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,308 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.