JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Vistra (NYSE:VST) Price Target to $233.00

Vistra (NYSE:VST) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $249.00 to $233.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. KeyCorp began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $217.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Vistra from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.40.

Vistra Stock Up 4.0%

VST opened at $166.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $56.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.05, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.39. Vistra has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $219.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $182.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.94.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). Vistra had a return on equity of 64.04% and a net margin of 6.70%.The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. Analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.227 per share. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is 32.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 22,251 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.05, for a total value of $3,605,774.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 297,998 shares in the company, valued at $48,290,575.90. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 8,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total transaction of $1,424,763.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 79,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,842,690.90. This represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 699,743 shares of company stock worth $136,926,878 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Vistra by 38.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 4,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 35,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,886,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.