Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Up 2.6% – What’s Next?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price rose 2.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $167.81 and last traded at $166.5890. Approximately 2,960,613 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 4,986,433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.62.

Vistra Trading Up 1.3%

The company has a market cap of $56.93 billion, a PE ratio of 28.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.43.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. On average, analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.229 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of Vistra 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,368,825.60. The trade was a 25.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 70,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $746,729,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $574,499,000. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $322,660,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 72.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,949,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,524,000 after purchasing an additional 817,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 585.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 907,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,425,000 after purchasing an additional 775,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.