Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Up 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares rose 2.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $152.75 and last traded at $151.9620. Approximately 5,356,275 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 5,140,265 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.93.

Vistra Trading Up 2.9%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $159.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.43.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 111.30%. Research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a $0.229 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. This is a boost 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.24%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,340,906.79. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $746,729,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $574,499,000. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $322,660,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Vistra by 15.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,106,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,392,299,000 after acquiring an additional 930,912 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Vistra by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,949,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,524,000 after acquiring an additional 817,876 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.