Vistra Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:VST)

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 53,760 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 143% compared to the typical volume of 22,118 call options.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other news, Director Lisa Crutchfield purchased 335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $89.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,969.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Vistra by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 16.8% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Vistra by 38.6% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,539,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of Vistra stock traded down $9.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.19. 14,371,503 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,712,681. Vistra has a 1 year low of $26.17 and a 1 year high of $107.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. As a group, analysts forecast that Vistra will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were given a $0.218 dividend. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim raised shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vistra from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.83.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.