Vistra’s (VST) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Vistra (NYSE:VST)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued on Monday, March 25th, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $78.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.67% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VST. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Vistra from $42.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Vistra Stock Down 2.3 %

Vistra stock traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $69.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,633,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,821,806. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.18. Vistra has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $73.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.63. The company has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.05.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($1.02). Vistra had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In related news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total value of $5,734,170.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,470,448. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 257,285 shares of company stock worth $15,404,397 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth $189,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $471,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vistra by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,659,000. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 39,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 3,308 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.