Vistra (NYSE:VST) Research Coverage Started at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $67.20.

Vistra Trading Down 4.1 %

VST stock opened at $65.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. The firm has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.05. Vistra has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $75.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.61 and its 200-day moving average is $44.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. Equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 24.02%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total value of $5,734,170.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,470,448. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of Vistra 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at $9,470,448. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $11,536,508.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,604,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,106,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023,500 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Vistra by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,939,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,597,000 after buying an additional 534,299 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,146,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,779,000 after buying an additional 300,355 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 19,070.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,537,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Vistra by 12.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,551,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,186,000 after acquiring an additional 597,875 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.