Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Vistra (NYSE:VST)

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 34,391 call options on the company. This is an increase of 78% compared to the average daily volume of 19,301 call options.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In related news, Director Lisa Crutchfield purchased 335 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $89.46 per share, with a total value of $29,969.10. Following the purchase, the director now owns 32,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,879,359.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VST. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Vistra by 160.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Vistra during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on VST shares. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $86.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $79.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Vistra from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.83.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST stock opened at $84.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The company has a market capitalization of $29.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.55 and a beta of 1.03. Vistra has a 12 month low of $24.70 and a 12 month high of $107.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.10.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 5.66%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.218 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.76%.

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.