Wall Street Zen Upgrades Vistra (NYSE:VST) to Buy

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lowered Vistra from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Vistra from $231.00 to $228.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Siebert Williams Shank assumed coverage on Vistra in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $202.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group set a $176.00 price target on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.45.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $132.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $143.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.96. Vistra has a twelve month low of $110.89 and a twelve month high of $189.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 113.41%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vistra will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 6th that permits the company to buy back $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 22,222 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total value of $3,558,631.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 308,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,469,648.10. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James Burke bought 4,465 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,146,352 shares in the company, valued at $155,044,108. This represents a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Premier Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners acquired a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. is an integrated energy company that generates and sells electricity and provides related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its retail businesses offer electricity plans and energy services through brands that include TXU Energy and Ambit Energy. The company owns and operates a diverse generation fleet, including natural gas, nuclear, coal and solar facilities, as well as battery energy storage systems. Its operations serve customers and wholesale power markets across multiple U.S. regions, including Texas and the eastern and central United States.

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