Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,590,000 shares, a decrease of 22.9% from the September 30th total of 13,730,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price target on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $145.40.

Vistra Price Performance

Vistra stock traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $126.67. 4,735,743 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,922,296. The company has a market cap of $44.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.71 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Vistra has a twelve month low of $32.17 and a twelve month high of $143.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.46.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Vistra will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $842,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 69,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,747 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,185,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,675,000. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 38,929.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,879,000 after purchasing an additional 116,787 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.