Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading 1.5% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Vistra shares rose 1.5% on Monday, trading as high as $158.57 as volume came in below average at 3.25 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish: Vistra has a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $230.62, and several firms recently reiterated or raised their targets.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.87 beating estimates by $1.55 and revenue of $5.64 billion topping forecasts; Vistra also paid a quarterly dividend, yielding about 0.6% annually.

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) was up 1.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $158.57 and last traded at $157.8240. 3,252,669 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 5,010,583 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price target on shares of Vistra and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $230.62.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $53.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $154.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Vistra (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.229 per share. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra's dividend payout ratio is 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,368,825.60. This trade represents a 25.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 232,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. Insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vistra by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 worth $2,657,891,000 after acquiring an additional 432,028 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after acquiring an additional 97,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vistra by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company's stock worth $895,872,000 after purchasing an additional 35,258 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by 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.

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