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

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 35,126 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 13% compared to the typical daily volume of 31,099 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Vistra from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.50.

Vistra Trading Up 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VST traded up $11.57 on Friday, hitting $161.23. The company had a trading volume of 5,755,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,871,405. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. Vistra has a 1 year low of $38.08 and a 1 year high of $168.67.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.221 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 16.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $2,795,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,849,637.12. This represents a 31.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 115.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,532,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,488 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Vistra by 1,358.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,228,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,918 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vistra by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,355,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,402 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 36.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,781,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,320,000 after buying an additional 1,000,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 315.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,175,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,096,000 after buying an additional 893,093 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.