Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $170.86, but opened at $179.30. Vistra shares last traded at $175.94, with a volume of 2,060,156 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VST shares. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $168.20.

Vistra Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.89. The company has a market cap of $63.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. 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 (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $4.01. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 16.60%.

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

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total value of $18,878,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 254,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. This trade represents a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Vistra by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 92.4% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 85,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,802,000 after purchasing an additional 41,100 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth about $3,701,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Vistra by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 81,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,253,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bensler LLC raised its holdings in Vistra by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,606,000 after buying an additional 5,561 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vistra

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.