Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 5.1% – Should You Sell?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) fell 5.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $140.37 and last traded at $140.7560. 5,144,594 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 4,885,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on VST. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vistra from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Vistra from $233.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Vistra from $293.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vistra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.53.

Vistra Stock Down 5.1%

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’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.94. The firm has a market cap of $47.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during 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 anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.21 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John R. Sult sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 70,714 shares in the company, valued at $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James Burke purchased 4,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,146,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $155,044,108. This represents a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 75,944 shares of company stock valued at $11,852,488. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Vistra by 15,825.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,386,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,896,343,000 after acquiring an additional 61,994,589 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,610,496,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 1.1% in 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter valued at $746,729,000. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 4th quarter worth $574,499,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company operates electricity generation and retail energy businesses, serving residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers primarily across the United States.

Vistra’s generation portfolio includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar and battery energy storage facilities. Through its retail operations, the company provides electricity, natural gas and renewable energy plans under brands that include TXU Energy, Dynegy, Homefield Energy and Ambit Energy.

The company was established in 2016 following the separation of Energy Future Holdings’ competitive energy businesses.