Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Vistra (NYSE:VST) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

VST has been the topic of several other reports. Seaport Research Partners cut their price objective on shares of Vistra from $226.00 to $202.00 in a report on Monday, November 2nd. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Vistra from $189.00 to $169.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 9th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $255.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, August 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $169.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.45.

Vistra Trading Down 1.2%

VST traded down $1.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $132.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,206,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,001,420. The stock has a market cap of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 1.37. Vistra has a fifty-two week low of $110.89 and a fifty-two week high of $189.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average is $143.19 and its 200-day moving average is $151.96.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 113.41% and a net margin of 13.15%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vistra will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 6th that allows the company to buy back $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 22,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total value of $3,558,631.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 308,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,469,648.10. This represents a 6.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James Burke bought 4,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,146,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,044,108. The trade was a 0.39% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Vistra by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,850,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,672,987,000 after acquiring an additional 79,972 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Vistra by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,616,000 after buying an additional 32,982 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Vistra during the second quarter worth about $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter valued at $381,938,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

More Vistra News

Investors following VST have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank modestly raised its EPS forecasts to $8.86 for FY2026 and $10.00 for FY2027, maintaining its “Sector Outperform” rating and $169 price target—above the cited share price of $132.95. Scotiabank estimate update
• Positive Sentiment: Siebert Williams Shank assigned Vistra a Buy rating, while a separate report said the firm sees roughly 50% upside despite the stock’s disappointing performance over the past year. Siebert Buy rating Siebert upside view
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded its view of Vistra from “strong sell” to “hold,” a less bearish assessment, though it is not a Buy recommendation. Zacks rating update

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. is an integrated energy company that generates and sells electricity and provides related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its retail businesses offer electricity plans and energy services through brands that include TXU Energy and Ambit Energy. The company owns and operates a diverse generation fleet, including natural gas, nuclear, coal and solar facilities, as well as battery energy storage systems. Its operations serve customers and wholesale power markets across multiple U.S. regions, including Texas and the eastern and central United States.