Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Up 7% – Should You Buy?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shot up 7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $144.90 and last traded at $144.1540. 7,868,716 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 51% from the average session volume of 5,219,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VST. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Vistra from $236.00 to $234.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $203.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $233.93.

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $155.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.71. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total transaction of $1,603,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the first quarter worth $242,000. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 58.7% during the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Vistra by 28.9% during the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 12,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after buying an additional 2,743 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 14.2% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 41.1% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.