KeyCorp Initiates Coverage on Vistra (NYSE:VST)

Equities research analysts at KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VST. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Melius started coverage on Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Vistra from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.20.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST opened at $170.73 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $193.84 and a 200-day moving average of $188.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $57.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.30. Vistra has a 1 year low of $90.51 and a 1 year high of $219.82.

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

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, CEO James A. Burke sold 21,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $4,091,535.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 271,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,563,433.22. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $10,183,556.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 218,239 shares in the company, valued at $38,137,265.25. This trade represents a 21.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 860,120 shares of company stock worth $171,817,820 over the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $930,080,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 40.5% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,896,000 after buying an additional 1,864,931 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Vistra during the first quarter worth $209,149,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vistra by 280.6% in the 2nd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,356,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,876,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Vistra by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,106,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,392,299,000 after buying an additional 930,912 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Company Profile

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.