Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Up 1.4% – Still a Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares traded up 1.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $142.77 and last traded at $142.4430. 4,284,016 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 4,946,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VST. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vistra from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Vistra from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.94.

Vistra Stock Down 1.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $45.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.97.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). The business had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.23 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,109,918. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Vistra by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after purchasing an additional 390,157 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the second quarter valued at about $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after buying an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vistra by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after acquiring an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $746,729,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Vistra

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.