Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price was down 1.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $148.50 and last traded at $150.9760. 4,209,361 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 5,089,350 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.31.

Vistra Trading Down 0.0%

The firm has a market cap of $50.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $154.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.92.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. Analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were issued a $0.229 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was 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 directly owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at $37,152,000. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 70,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,021,380. The trade was a 8.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 over the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Vistra by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 28,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 8,312 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 20.0% during the second quarter. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.