Vistra (NYSE:VST) Coverage Initiated at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock.

VST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $67.20.

Vistra Stock Down 4.1 %

Vistra stock traded down $2.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $65.86. The stock had a trading volume of 7,845,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,054,813. The company has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business's 50 day moving average price is $60.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.89. Vistra has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $75.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($1.02). The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. This is a boost from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 19,070.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,426,000 after purchasing an additional 5,537,584 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,523,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 468.2% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,128,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,006,000 after buying an additional 1,754,223 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,218,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 2,443.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,781,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,418,000 after buying an additional 1,711,407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

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.