Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s share price was up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $143.52 and last traded at $141.8380. Approximately 4,286,015 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 5,157,474 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Siebert Williams Shank assumed coverage on Vistra in a report on Friday, October 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $226.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Vistra from $231.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.20.

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $47.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $145.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 9.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.2290. Vistra’s payout ratio is 15.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott Hudson sold 22,222 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 308,915 shares in the company, valued at $49,469,648.10. This represents a 6.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James A. Burke bought 4,465 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

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

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST) is an integrated energy company based in Irving, Texas. The company operates across electricity generation, power distribution support, energy marketing and retail electricity sales, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily in the United States.

Vistra owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power generation and energy storage facilities. Its assets include natural gas, nuclear, coal and renewable generation, as well as battery storage projects.