Brokerages Set Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) PT at $63.50

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.20.

A number of equities analysts have commented on VST shares. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 lifted their target price on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,536,508.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $5,114,019.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Vistra by 199.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 88,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 59,195 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the first quarter worth about $202,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the first quarter worth approximately $265,000. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Vistra by 7.1% in the first quarter. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 269,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,802,000 after acquiring an additional 17,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Vistra by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock opened at $66.70 on Thursday. Vistra has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $75.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.55.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 20th were issued a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.02%.

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.