Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 2.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) fell 2.7% during trading on Thursday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $138.33 and last traded at $138.88. 3,724,835 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 4,939,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.70.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VST. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $212.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,600. This trade represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,152,000. This trade represents a 9.72% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra during the second quarter worth about $4,610,496,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at about $746,729,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Vistra by 95.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 177,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,638,000 after purchasing an additional 86,393 shares during the last quarter. Payden & Rygel increased its stake in Vistra by 3,118.2% during the 4th quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,875,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Trading Down 2.7%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $154.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46 and a beta of 1.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.23 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.54%.

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.