Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Down 3.4% – Time to Sell?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares were down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $145.66 and last traded at $146.8980. Approximately 4,848,061 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 5,143,041 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $191.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.93.

Vistra Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $156.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.97.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. On average, research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.229 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.24%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total transaction of $1,603,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,340,906.79. This trade represents a 8.04% 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. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in Vistra by 2,700.0% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vistra during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.