Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Up 3.9% After Insider Buying Activity

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Sep 2nd, 2026

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST – Get Free Report) shot up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $144.15 and last traded at $143.4220. Approximately 4,675,636 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 4,894,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.08.

Specifically, CEO James A. Burke purchased 4,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $155,044,108. This represents a 0.39% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Burke acquired 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $135.99 per share, for a total transaction of $299,178.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,141,887 shares in the company, valued at $155,285,213.13. The trade was a 0.19% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VST. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Vistra from $233.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Vistra from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.53.

Read Our Latest Research Report on VST

Vistra Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $150.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $48.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23 and a beta of 1.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. On average, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.54%.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Vistra by 15,825.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,386,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,896,343,000 after acquiring an additional 61,994,589 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Vistra during the second quarter worth $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vistra by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,891,000 after acquiring an additional 432,028 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vistra by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after purchasing an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at $746,729,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

About Vistra

(Get Free Report)

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.