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

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 52,781 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 32% compared to the average daily volume of 39,867 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Stephen J. Muscato sold 207,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $33,413,514.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 318,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,352,424.58. This trade represents a 39.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 343,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,990,029.50. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 342,100 shares of company stock worth $55,087,314. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in shares of Vistra by 232.6% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 40,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,247,000 after purchasing an additional 28,300 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 36.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 6,190 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 38.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 67,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,838,000 after buying an additional 18,740 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Vistra by 52.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 58,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,015,000 after buying an additional 19,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seaport Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $816,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Trading Up 9.0 %

VST stock opened at $149.41 on Wednesday. Vistra has a one year low of $40.54 and a one year high of $199.84. The stock has a market cap of $50.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $155.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 57.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

Vistra declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $206.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price 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 issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.64.

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.