Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Vistra (NYSE:VST)

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 39,705 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the average daily volume of 30,452 call options.

Trending Headlines about Vistra

Here are the key news stories impacting Vistra this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $212 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and confidence in Vistra’s earnings and power-demand outlook. Morgan Stanley Raises Vistra Price Target to $212
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have both issued Buy opinions on Vistra, reinforcing the bullish case tied to rising electricity demand, including demand from data centers. Vistra Gets a Buy from Morgan Stanley Vistra Receives a Buy from Goldman Sachs
• Positive Sentiment: Vistra declared a quarterly common-stock dividend of $0.23 per share, payable September 30 to shareholders of record September 21. The approximately $75 million distribution offers continued shareholder income, although the roughly 0.6% yield is unlikely to be a major stock catalyst. Vistra Declares Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Vistra’s valuation following the pullback describes a mixed picture: the stock has delivered exceptional five-year returns, but is not clearly cheap or expensive. New York limits affecting data-center development could temper some expected electricity-demand growth, even as broader grid demand remains supportive. Vistra Stock Looks Reasonable Following New York Data Center Limits
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades from TD Cowen and other coverage triggered selling pressure, with reports citing a more pessimistic price outlook. The resulting pullback reflects concerns that Vistra’s premium valuation and strong prior gains leave less room for execution disappointments. TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Vistra

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In other news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total value of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,368,825.60. The trade was a 25.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 over the last 90 days. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,371,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 28,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 8,312 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Vistra by 37.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Vistra in the second quarter worth approximately $269,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP increased its holdings in Vistra by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on VST. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Vistra from $230.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.88.

Vistra Price Performance

NYSE VST traded up $5.63 on Thursday, reaching $148.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,286,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,935,122. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85 and a beta of 1.40. Vistra has a 12 month low of $132.66 and a 12 month high of $219.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.25.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released 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. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vistra will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

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.