Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 3.5% – Should You Sell?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares fell 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $162.31 and last traded at $163.1480. 2,550,443 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 4,948,518 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $230.62.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $155.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.43. 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 company has a market capitalization of $55.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.35 earnings per share 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 $0.229 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In other news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 5,000 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.96, for a total transaction of $824,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,368,825.60. The trade was a 25.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,109,918. This represents a 0.46% 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 a total of 41,588 shares of company stock worth $6,739,227 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Vistra by 95.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 177,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,638,000 after acquiring an additional 86,393 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at about $746,729,000. Payden & Rygel raised its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3,118.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,875,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,768,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,343,000 after purchasing an additional 192,274 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.