Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 2.4% – What’s Next?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) dropped 2.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $163.19 and last traded at $163.6940. Approximately 5,346,855 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 5,121,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $187.00 price target on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.31.

Vistra Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $154.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.37. The company has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.40.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The business had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a $0.229 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vistra news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 232,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,152,000. This trade represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $1,105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,021,380. This represents a 8.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,588 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,227. 0.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VST. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

About Vistra

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.