Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $191.11, but opened at $154.09. Vistra shares last traded at $144.52, with a volume of 8,874,044 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Vistra from $133.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Vistra from $105.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.64.

Vistra Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $47.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $4.01. Vistra had a return on equity of 57.63% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $0.221 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This is a positive change from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.60%.

Vistra announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott B. Helm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $2,795,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 343,350 shares in the company, valued at $47,990,029.50. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 115,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.16, for a total transaction of $18,878,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 254,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,849,637.12. The trade was a 31.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 342,100 shares of company stock valued at $55,087,314 over the last 90 days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Company Profile

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.