Vistra Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:VST)

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 16,203 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 57% compared to the average daily volume of 10,296 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.20.

Vistra Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $83.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. The firm has a market cap of $28.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25 and a beta of 1.02. Vistra has a 12-month low of $23.24 and a 12-month high of $83.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.64.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($1.02). The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 20.05%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.218 per share. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 24.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,069,030.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vistra news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares in the company, valued at $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $5,114,019.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397 in the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,146,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,779,000 after purchasing an additional 300,355 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 19,070.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,537,584 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 12.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,551,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,186,000 after acquiring an additional 597,875 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 12.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,190,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,228,000 after acquiring an additional 575,799 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,797,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,800,000 after acquiring an additional 282,056 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.