Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading 4.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price was up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $157.24 and last traded at $157.24. 3,352,128 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 5,075,889 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on VST. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Two research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.31.

Vistra Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $154.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a $0.229 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total value of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,368,825.60. This represents a 25.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 390,157 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Vistra by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after purchasing an additional 432,028 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,872,000 after buying an additional 35,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.