TD Cowen Cuts Vistra (NYSE:VST) Price Target to $221.00

Vistra (NYSE:VST) had its price objective decreased by TD Cowen from $222.00 to $221.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on VST. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Vistra and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $206.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on Vistra in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.94.

Vistra Price Performance

Shares of VST opened at $136.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05 and a beta of 1.41. Vistra has a 52-week low of $132.66 and a 52-week high of $219.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.83. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vistra will post 9.23 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at $37,152,000. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227 over the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Vistra by 24.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Vistra by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 28,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 8,312 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of Vistra by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.