Traders Buy High Volume of Vistra Call Options (NYSE:VST)

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 36,868 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 38% compared to the typical volume of 26,669 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VST shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,368,825.60. This trade represents a 25.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VST. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $746,729,000. Payden & Rygel increased its position in Vistra by 3,118.2% during the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,300 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth about $29,875,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Vistra by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,768,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,343,000 after purchasing an additional 192,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vistra by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 188,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,479,000 after purchasing an additional 48,378 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Performance

Vistra stock traded down $7.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.59. 2,598,854 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,126,474. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.70. The firm has a market cap of $46.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.90. Vistra has a 52 week low of $132.66 and a 52 week high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. On average, analysts expect that Vistra will post 9.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is 15.24%.

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.