Vistra (NYSE:VST) Trading Down 1.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Vistra shares fell 1.4% on Tuesday, trading as low as $132.66 before last changing hands at $134.84, with volume running above average at 5.85 million shares.
• Despite the pullback, analysts remain upbeat: Vistra has a consensus Buy rating and an average target price of $233.93, with several firms recently raising ratings or price targets.
• The company reported strong first-quarter results, including EPS of $2.87 versus expectations of $1.32, and it also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.229 per share, payable June 30.

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $132.66 and last traded at $134.8380. 5,849,588 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average session volume of 5,192,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $136.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Vistra from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vistra from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vistra from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $191.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Vistra from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two 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.com, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $233.93.

Vistra Stock Down 1.4%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $155.72 and a 200-day moving average of $164.17. The company has a market capitalization of $45.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.43. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 105.64% and a net margin of 11.52%.The company had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Vistra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Vistra's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 10,000 shares of Vistra 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 114,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,340,906.79. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3.1% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 1,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 7.1% in the third quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 916 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 0.9% in the third quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 7,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 2.0% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 365 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is 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.

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