Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Down 3.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares fell 3.9% during trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $138.77 and last traded at $140.3890. 4,285,373 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 4,945,698 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.11.

VST has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Vistra from $233.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Vistra from $222.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One investment 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, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 232,200 shares in the company, valued at $37,152,000. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.00, for a total transaction of $37,332.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 53,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,109,918. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vistra by 0.9% during 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. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vistra by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,891,000 after purchasing an additional 432,028 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $746,729,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $154.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.11. The company has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.41.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.85). The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. Research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s payout ratio is 15.54%.

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.