Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Up 1.3% – Time to Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares rose 1.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $144.66 and last traded at $137.51. Approximately 3,418,488 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 6,930,288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VST. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $145.40.

Vistra Stock Up 4.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $48.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.11 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.221 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Vistra announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VST. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Vistra by 6.6% in the 2nd 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. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in Vistra by 470.0% during the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,769,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,569,000 after buying an additional 3,108,511 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Vistra by 9,668.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,940,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,015 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,564,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,632,000 after acquiring an additional 514,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,488 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.