Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Down 5.9% – What’s Next?

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares were down 5.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $106.82 and last traded at $107.54. Approximately 3,000,728 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 7,433,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VST. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vistra from $151.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Vistra in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Vistra from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.83.

Vistra Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68. The company has a market cap of $38.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $156.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.63.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.2235 dividend. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 12.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VST. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Vistra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $742,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the third quarter worth $66,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra during the third quarter worth $231,000. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Vistra by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 40,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,810,000 after acquiring an additional 6,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 274.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 6,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 4,524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.