Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) were down 1.2% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $130.34 and last traded at $132.9520. 3,195,058 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 5,296,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VST shares. Siebert Williams Shank started coverage on Vistra in a report on Friday, October 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded Vistra from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Vistra from $231.00 to $228.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Vistra from $227.00 to $226.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.45.

Vistra Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.11. The company has a market capitalization of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 1.37.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.25. Vistra had a net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 113.41%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.2310 dividend. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 12.43%.

Vistra declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 6th that allows the company to buy back $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott Hudson sold 44,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 331,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,273,219.34. This trade represents a 11.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James A. Burke bought 4,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $155,044,108. The trade was a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VST. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $2,672,987,000 after purchasing an additional 79,972 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,616,000 after purchasing an additional 32,982 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $381,938,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp. is an integrated energy company that generates and sells electricity and provides related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its retail businesses offer electricity plans and energy services through brands that include TXU Energy and Ambit Energy. The company owns and operates a diverse generation fleet, including natural gas, nuclear, coal and solar facilities, as well as battery energy storage systems. Its operations serve customers and wholesale power markets across multiple U.S. regions, including Texas and the eastern and central United States.