Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Jumps 10.7% – Time to Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) traded up 10.7% during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $162.69 and last traded at $160.3540. 18,000,655 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 258% from the average daily volume of 5,024,565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Williams Trading set a $202.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Siebert Williams Shank started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, August 10th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.61.

Vistra Stock 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 stock has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $143.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.04.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. Equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.2290. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 22,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total value of $3,558,631.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 308,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,469,648.10. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James Burke acquired 4,465 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly 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. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter worth about $4,610,496,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $468,354,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $381,938,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $262,169,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $138,267,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is an integrated energy company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company operates electricity generation facilities and provides electricity and related energy services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage assets.

Vistra also operates a retail electricity business that offers power plans, renewable energy options, and energy-management services. Its retail brands include TXU Energy, Homefield Energy, Dynegy, and Ambit Energy, serving customers in competitive electricity markets across the United States.