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

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 41,929 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical volume of 25,633 call options.

Vistra Trading Up 6.9 %

VST traded up $8.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $133.96. 6,078,388 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,801,254. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.60. Vistra has a 1-year low of $31.16 and a 1-year high of $135.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.83 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vistra will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.37%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Vistra by 12.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 69,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,296,000 after buying an additional 7,747 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 38,929.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,879,000 after acquiring an additional 116,787 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at $108,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 68,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 17,502 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Vistra during the second quarter worth $69,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on VST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vistra from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Vistra from $99.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $115.14.

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.