Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 1.8% – Here’s Why

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) traded down 1.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $136.18 and last traded at $136.43. 4,914,565 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 0% from the average session volume of 4,933,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VST has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane set a $255.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Vistra from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, June 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.94.

Vistra Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.73 and a 200-day moving average of $155.83. The company has a market cap of $45.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 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 business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.54%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,368,825.60. The trade was a 25.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 over the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after purchasing an additional 390,157 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,112,000 after acquiring an additional 97,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $746,729,000. 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.