Vistra (NYSE:VST) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock.

VST has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $67.20.

Vistra Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of VST stock opened at $65.86 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. Vistra has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $75.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.89. The stock has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.05.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.24 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.02%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,069,030.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397 in the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Vistra by 90.4% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 327,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 155,533 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $773,000. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $831,000. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,716,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Vistra by 323.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.