Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Vistra (NYSE:VST)

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 10,009 call options on the company. This is an increase of 29% compared to the typical volume of 7,731 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $63.50.

Vistra Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE VST traded down $4.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.50. The company had a trading volume of 8,450,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,009,789. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. Vistra has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $75.89. The firm's 50 day moving average is $57.00 and its 200-day moving average is $43.29.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($1.02). Vistra had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. On average, analysts expect that Vistra will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,536,508.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 86,517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $5,114,019.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,069,030.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397. 1.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Vistra by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 327,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 155,533 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $773,000. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $831,000. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $2,716,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 323.6% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,554 shares of the company's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

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.