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

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.20.

VST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 327,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,867,000 after acquiring an additional 155,533 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $773,000. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $831,000. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $2,716,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Vistra by 323.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:VST opened at $70.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.02 and a 200-day moving average of $45.81. Vistra has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $75.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Analysts predict that Vistra will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were given a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 24.02%.

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.