Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 2.8% – Here’s What Happened

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares traded down 2.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $154.13 and last traded at $155.0730. 3,718,362 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 5,184,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Vistra from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $191.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Vistra from $287.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $236.40.

Vistra Stock Up 0.7%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $161.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.29, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 81.09% and a net margin of 5.32%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vistra Corp. will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th were issued a $0.228 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total value of $1,603,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 114,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,340,906.79. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vistra by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,588,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,519,000 after buying an additional 390,157 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vistra by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,474,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,891,000 after buying an additional 432,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vistra by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,112,000 after buying an additional 97,424 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Vistra by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,106,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,392,299,000 after buying an additional 930,912 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $746,729,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.