Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading 3.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) traded up 3.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $149.28 and last traded at $149.1550. 4,507,862 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 5,206,657 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on Vistra in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.33.

Vistra Stock Up 4.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $52.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 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 firm had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.3 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total value of $1,603,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 114,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,340,906.79. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Vistra by 2,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Vistra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. 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.