Vistra (NYSE:VST) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Melius

Melius began coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $216.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on Vistra from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vistra from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.93.

Vistra Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of VST stock opened at $192.6120 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $193.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.04. Vistra has a twelve month low of $72.90 and a twelve month high of $216.85. The company has a market capitalization of $65.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.62). Vistra had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 108.41%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Vistra will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 50,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total transaction of $8,637,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 255,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,084,418. The trade was a 16.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 35,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $5,650,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 88,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,218,505.12. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $18,579,650 in the last three months. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Vistra by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,660,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,228,880,000 after purchasing an additional 226,514 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 40.5% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,931 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Vistra by 4.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,175,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,884,000 after purchasing an additional 258,983 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter worth $930,080,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 25.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,390,000 after acquiring an additional 913,350 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.