Vistra (NYSE:VST) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Daiwa America

Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Melius Research raised Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Melius began coverage on Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $210.71.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VST opened at $208.01 on Wednesday. Vistra has a twelve month low of $90.26 and a twelve month high of $217.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $197.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.08. The company has a market capitalization of $70.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Burke sold 43,074 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total value of $8,991,697.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,303,968.75. This trade represents a 16.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,402 shares of company stock valued at $21,742,629. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Vistra by 1.9% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,680,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the first quarter worth about $341,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $432,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $547,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vistra by 29.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 255,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,021,000 after buying an additional 57,551 shares during the period. 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.