Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 4.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s share price traded down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $249.00 to $233.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Vistra traded as low as $164.72 and last traded at $165.0260. 610,490 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 6,197,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.45.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $217.00 target price for the company. Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vistra from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vistra

In related news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 8,219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total value of $1,424,763.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 79,854 shares in the company, valued at $13,842,690.90. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $10,183,556.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 218,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,137,265.25. The trade was a 21.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 742,469 shares of company stock worth $145,999,322 over the last quarter. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Vistra by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,660,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,228,880,000 after purchasing an additional 226,514 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,106,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,392,299,000 after acquiring an additional 930,912 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 40.5% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864,931 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $930,080,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vistra by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,572,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,872,000 after purchasing an additional 35,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Trading Down 4.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $184.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.31. The company has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.39.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). Vistra had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 64.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.227 per share. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.