Vistra (NYSE:VST) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $99.00 to $137.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vistra traded as high as $111.80 and last traded at $111.80, with a volume of 152512 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.88.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on VST. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 6.6% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,838,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $587,932,000 after purchasing an additional 425,126 shares during the period. Third Point LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 4,600,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,192,000 after purchasing an additional 995,748 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in Vistra by 470.0% in the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108,511 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Vistra by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,519,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,570,000 after purchasing an additional 363,897 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Vistra by 9,668.5% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,015 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Trading Up 0.7 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.19 and its 200-day moving average is $81.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.06 billion, a PE ratio of 68.98 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s payout ratio is 53.37%.

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.