Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 3.5% – Time to Sell?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares traded down 3.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $151.05 and last traded at $153.0840. Approximately 5,045,884 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 5,096,056 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.31.

Vistra Trading Down 0.0%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The company has a market cap of $50.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The business had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $736,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,600. This represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total value of $37,332.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares in the company, valued at $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% 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. Insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vistra by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,519,000 after acquiring an additional 390,157 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 97,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $746,729,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,872,000 after purchasing an additional 35,258 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.