Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Up 5.2% – Still a Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares were up 5.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $156.96 and last traded at $155.9380. 4,004,495 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 4,941,819 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price target on Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Vistra from $230.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vistra from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Vistra from $233.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.88.

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12 and a beta of 1.41. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.53 and a 200-day moving average of $157.95.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $736,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,600. This trade represents a 32.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Vistra by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,891,000 after acquiring an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,112,000 after acquiring an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Vistra by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,872,000 after acquiring an additional 35,258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Company Profile

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.