Vistra (NYSE:VST) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock.

VST has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and issued a $146.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $137.22.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST opened at $132.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $45.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.29 and a beta of 1.10. Vistra has a 1-year low of $31.43 and a 1-year high of $143.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted 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). Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Vistra will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a $0.2195 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Vistra by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 69,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,747 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the first quarter valued at about $1,675,000. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the third quarter valued at about $1,185,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 115,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after buying an additional 33,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 38,929.0% during the third quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,879,000 after buying an additional 116,787 shares during 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.