Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Jumps 3.9% – Still a Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares rose 3.9% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $158.74 and last traded at $156.1950. Approximately 5,069,480 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 5,117,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.32.

Trending Headlines about Vistra

Here are the key news stories impacting Vistra this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vistra has a strong history of exceeding earnings expectations, and the company currently has the two key factors that Zacks considers supportive of another beat in its upcoming quarterly report. A positive surprise could help rebuild investor confidence following the company’s prior quarterly EPS and revenue misses. Can Vistra Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive?
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $190 price target, implying substantial upside from recent levels. Siebert Williams Shank also maintained its Buy rating, reinforcing favorable sell-side sentiment. HSBC Initiates Coverage of Vistra at Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Vistra’s long-term growth opportunity remains tied to rising electricity demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. However, the timing and scale of that demand remain uncertain while Texas regulators audit proposed data-center projects connected to the ERCOT grid. Texas Paused Data Center Hookups
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target for Vistra, signaling more cautious expectations for valuation or near-term performance. The target reduction likely contributed to selling pressure despite other firms’ Buy ratings. Vistra Stock Price Target Cut by Morgan Stanley

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane set a $255.00 price objective on Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Vistra from $227.00 to $226.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Williams Trading set a $202.00 price target on Vistra in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $176.00 price target on Vistra in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.20.

Vistra Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.24. The company has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54 and a beta of 1.38.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.2290. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott Hudson sold 22,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total transaction of $3,558,631.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 308,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,469,648.10. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James A. Burke purchased 4,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,044,108. This trade represents a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,850,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,672,987,000 after acquiring an additional 79,972 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,616,000 after acquiring an additional 32,982 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $381,938,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST) is an integrated energy company based in Irving, Texas. The company operates across electricity generation, power distribution support, energy marketing and retail electricity sales, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily in the United States.

Vistra owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power generation and energy storage facilities. Its assets include natural gas, nuclear, coal and renewable generation, as well as battery storage projects.