Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 13.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares traded down 13.9% during trading on Wednesday after KeyCorp downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating. The company traded as low as $117.27 and last traded at $120.1750. Approximately 20,337,389 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 289% from the average daily volume of 5,223,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.59.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on VST. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their price target on Vistra from $201.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.43.

Insider Transactions at Vistra

In related news, CEO James Burke acquired 4,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,146,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,044,108. The trade was a 0.39% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 44,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.82, for a total transaction of $6,747,488.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 331,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,273,219.34. This trade represents a 11.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Vistra by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,850,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,672,987,000 after buying an additional 79,972 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Vistra by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,616,000 after buying an additional 32,982 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the second quarter worth $381,938,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Down 13.9%

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 company has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.38.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its 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 net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.19 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.2310 dividend. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.54%.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST) is an integrated energy company based in Irving, Texas. The company operates across electricity generation, power distribution support, energy marketing and retail electricity sales, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily in the United States.

Vistra owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power generation and energy storage facilities. Its assets include natural gas, nuclear, coal and renewable generation, as well as battery storage projects.