Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Up 5.2% – Still a Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shot up 5.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $156.96 and last traded at $155.9380. Approximately 4,004,495 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 4,941,819 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vistra from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.88.

Vistra Stock Performance

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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.95. The firm has a market cap of $52.58 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12 and a beta of 1.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares in the company, valued at $1,561,600. This represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 over the last three months. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after purchasing an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.7% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in Vistra by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Vistra by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,872,000 after buying an additional 35,258 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.