Vistra (NYSE:VST) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research lowered shares of Vistra (NYSE:VST) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Vistra from $222.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.00.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VST opened at $142.44 on Tuesday. Vistra has a one year low of $132.66 and a one year high of $219.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released 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). The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. On average, analysts predict that Vistra will post 9.23 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 15.54%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $1,105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 70,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,021,380. The trade was a 8.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vistra during the second quarter worth about $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp raised its position 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 lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $746,729,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vistra

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.