Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Down 1% – Here’s What Happened

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price was down 1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $145.21 and last traded at $146.58. 4,017,713 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 4,954,758 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VST. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.56.

Vistra Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $154.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71 and a beta of 1.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%.The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. On average, analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.23 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,360 shares in the company, valued at $2,368,825.60. This represents a 25.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,152,000. This trade represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at $746,729,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Vistra by 95.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 177,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,638,000 after acquiring an additional 86,393 shares during the last quarter. Payden & Rygel lifted its stake in Vistra by 3,118.2% in the 4th quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,300 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth $29,875,000. Finally, Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,543,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Company Profile

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.