Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares fell 2% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $135.86 and last traded at $138.1540. 5,224,395 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 5,158,206 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.95.

Trending Headlines about Vistra

Here are the key news stories impacting Vistra this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vistra completed its acquisition of Cogentrix Energy, adding 10 modern natural-gas facilities with approximately 5,500 megawatts of capacity. The deal expands Vistra’s generation fleet to nearly 50,000 MW and could strengthen its ability to serve power demand in key U.S. markets. Vistra Completes Acquisition of Cogentrix Energy
• Positive Sentiment: The board declared a quarterly common-stock dividend of $0.231 per share, a slight increase from the prior payment. The dividend implies an annualized payout of approximately $0.92 per share, providing modest shareholder income. Vistra Declares Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed. Wells Fargo reportedly reduced its price expectations, while another report cited an average price target of $202.43 and potential upside from current levels. The conflicting outlook may be contributing to volatility. Wells Fargo Lowers Expectations
• Neutral Sentiment: A valuation comparison with Southern Company characterized Vistra as the cheaper utility, but Southern was viewed as stronger on dividends, debt management, profitability and recent stock performance. VST or SO Utility Comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Vistra is scheduled to report quarterly results next week, but Zacks said the company lacks the combination of earnings-estimate revisions and surprise factors typically associated with a likely earnings beat. This raises caution ahead of the report, especially after the company’s previous quarter missed consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue. Vistra Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: A recent analyst downgrade has also weighed on sentiment, reinforcing concerns about valuation, execution and near-term earnings momentum. Vistra Shares Following Analyst Downgrade

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VST has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Vistra from $222.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Vistra from $212.00 to $198.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $227.00 to $226.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $176.00 price objective on shares of Vistra in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

Vistra Stock Down 2.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $145.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). Vistra had a return on equity of 108.68% and a net margin of 11.55%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be given a $0.2310 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 22nd. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 15.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vistra news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 22,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total value of $3,558,631.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 308,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,469,648.10. This represents a 6.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 Burke acquired 4,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $603,891.25. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,146,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,044,108. This trade represents a 0.39% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vistra

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Vistra during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,610,496,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Vistra by 16.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 258,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,979,000 after acquiring an additional 35,862 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 95.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 177,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,638,000 after buying an additional 86,393 shares during the period. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $10,543,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Vistra by 353.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 9,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST) is an integrated energy company based in Irving, Texas. The company operates across electricity generation, power distribution support, energy marketing and retail electricity sales, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily in the United States.

Vistra owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power generation and energy storage facilities. Its assets include natural gas, nuclear, coal and renewable generation, as well as battery storage projects.