Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 2.9% – Should You Sell?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price fell 2.9% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $134.21 and last traded at $134.3710. Approximately 4,772,080 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 5,156,653 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.37.

Trending Headlines about Vistra

Here are the key news stories impacting Vistra this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vistra is expected to report higher revenue and earnings for Q3 2026 on Nov. 6, supported by robust power demand, hedging and increased capacity revenue. The revenue consensus is $7.44 billion, up about 50% year over year. Vistra Set for Q3 Earnings Release
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America Securities maintained a Buy rating, providing a counterpoint to recent downgrades. Bank of America Securities Remains a Buy on Vistra
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp cut its rating on Vistra from Overweight to Sector Weight. Separately, a Seeking Alpha analysis downgraded the stock to Hold, citing technical weakness and uncertainty around post-election regulation. KeyCorp rating changes Vistra: Midterms Uncertainty Casts Dark Clouds
• Negative Sentiment: Risks highlighted include possible Texas data-center moratoriums, volatile ERCOT power prices and legislative uncertainty that could constrain future growth. Vistra’s prior quarterly results also missed analyst expectations, although it reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $6.8 billion to $7.6 billion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Siebert Williams Shank started coverage on shares of Vistra in a report on Friday, October 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Vistra from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Vistra from $231.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vistra from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Vistra Trading Down 13.9%

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 market cap of $40.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $144.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.08.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. Research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.2310 per share. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, CEO James Burke purchased 4,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,044,108. This represents a 0.39% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 44,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.82, for a total transaction of $6,747,488.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 331,137 shares in the company, valued at $50,273,219.34. This trade represents a 11.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Vistra by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,850,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,672,987,000 after buying an additional 79,972 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Vistra by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,616,000 after acquiring an additional 32,982 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Vistra in the second quarter valued at approximately $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Vistra in the second quarter valued at approximately $381,938,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST) is an integrated energy company based in Irving, Texas. The company operates across electricity generation, power distribution support, energy marketing and retail electricity sales, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily in the United States.

Vistra owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power generation and energy storage facilities. Its assets include natural gas, nuclear, coal and renewable generation, as well as battery storage projects.