BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets lowered Vistra’s price target to $210 from $231 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying roughly 50% upside from the stock’s $139.94 opening price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 15 analysts rate Vistra a Buy and two rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $217.61.
• Vistra recently missed quarterly expectations, reporting $0.76 in EPS versus a $1.61 estimate and $4.02 billion in revenue versus $5.46 billion expected. Institutional investors own approximately 90.88% of the company, while recent insider activity included CEO buying shares and an executive selling shares under a 10b5-1 plan.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $231.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective suggests a potential upside of 50.07% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Williams Trading set a $202.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Vistra from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Vistra Trading Down 0.1%

VST opened at $139.94 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50 day moving average price is $143.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Vistra has a fifty-two week low of $132.66 and a fifty-two week high of $217.10.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vistra will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Burke acquired 4,465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $155,044,108. The trade was a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott Hudson sold 44,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.82, for a total transaction of $6,747,488.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 331,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,273,219.34. This represents a 11.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra during the second quarter valued at $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vistra by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,850,452 shares of the company's stock worth $2,672,987,000 after acquiring an additional 79,972 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth about $574,499,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $516,616,000 after acquiring an additional 32,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $468,354,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp. NYSE: VST is an integrated energy company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company operates electricity generation facilities and provides electricity and related energy services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage assets.

Vistra also operates a retail electricity business that offers power plans, renewable energy options, and energy-management services. Its retail brands include TXU Energy, Homefield Energy, Dynegy, and Ambit Energy, serving customers in competitive electricity markets across the United States.

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