Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 3.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s stock price traded down 3.9% on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $157.00 to $150.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vistra traded as low as $124.70 and last traded at $125.30. 1,979,024 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 6,967,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.38.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vistra from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Vistra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Vistra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Vistra in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Vistra by 1,505.9% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Stock Down 4.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $101.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.93. The stock has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.94 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.69). Vistra had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vistra Corp. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a $0.2195 dividend. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Vistra’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.