Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 2.8% – What’s Next?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) fell 2.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $158.41 and last traded at $160.0220. 4,878,654 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 5,272,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VST shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen cut their target price on Vistra from $253.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vistra has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.33.

Vistra Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $53.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $154.40 and its 200-day moving average is $162.09.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid a $0.229 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 15.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total transaction of $1,603,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,340,906.79. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $746,729,000. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $574,499,000. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in Vistra during the fourth quarter worth $322,660,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Vistra by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,949,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,524,000 after purchasing an additional 817,876 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Vistra by 585.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 907,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,425,000 after purchasing an additional 775,104 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.