Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Up 2% – Still a Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shot up 2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $161.18 and last traded at $157.9670. 2,895,824 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 5,025,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the topic of several research reports. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $230.31.

Vistra Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.63. The company has a market capitalization of $53.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 70,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Vistra by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after acquiring an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vistra by 1.1% during 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at about $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Vistra by 0.8% in the 3rd 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. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.