Vistra (NYSE:VST) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Vistra (NYSE:VST) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.62.

Vistra Stock Performance

NYSE:VST opened at $162.22 on Monday. Vistra has a 1-year low of $132.66 and a 1-year high of $219.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The stock has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.17 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.37.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the sale, the director owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total value of $824,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,368,825.60. This represents a 25.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northside Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vistra by 4.9% during the second quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC now owns 139,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,174,000 after acquiring an additional 6,582 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vistra in the second quarter valued at $414,000. Tema ETFs LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 10.5% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Haven Capital Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the second quarter valued at about $2,812,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 73.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

About Vistra

Vistra (NYSE: VST) is an integrated power company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and retail businesses in the United States. The company’s operations span wholesale power production—through a diversified fleet of thermal and lower‑carbon generation assets—and retail electricity supply to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Vistra serves organized wholesale markets and competitive retail markets, with a notable presence in Texas and other regional U.S. power markets.

Vistra’s core activities include the ownership and operation of generation facilities, the commercial dispatch and optimization of those assets into wholesale markets, and the sale of electricity and related services to end-use customers through its retail brands.