Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $146.38 and last traded at $146.9630. Approximately 3,310,210 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 5,160,743 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on Vistra in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $233.33.

Vistra Trading Down 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of $49.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.51.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $1.55. Vistra had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 105.64%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 9.3 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a $0.229 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 15.24%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other Vistra news, CAO Margaret Montemayor sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $736,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,561,600. This represents a 32.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VST. Payden & Rygel grew its position in Vistra by 3,118.2% in the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,711,000 after acquiring an additional 34,300 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vistra in the fourth quarter valued at $746,729,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at $29,875,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 188,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,479,000 after purchasing an additional 48,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Vistra by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,768,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,343,000 after buying an additional 192,274 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.