Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Rating Cut to Sector Weight at KeyCorp

Vistra (NYSE:VST) was downgraded by equities research analysts at KeyCorp from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Williams Trading set a $202.00 price target on Vistra in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Lake Street Capital set a $194.00 price objective on Vistra in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Vistra from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their target price on Vistra from $201.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Vistra Stock Performance

VST stock traded down $20.55 on Wednesday, hitting $119.04. The company had a trading volume of 6,735,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,157,503. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. Vistra has a 12-month low of $119.60 and a 12-month high of $196.80. The stock has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.38.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.85). The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. Vistra had a net margin of 11.55% and a return on equity of 108.68%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vistra will post 9.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vistra

In other news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 44,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.82, for a total transaction of $6,747,488.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 331,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,273,219.34. The trade was a 11.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James Burke acquired 4,465 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $603,891.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,146,352 shares in the company, valued at $155,044,108. This represents a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vistra in the second quarter worth about $4,610,496,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,850,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,672,987,000 after buying an additional 79,972 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Vistra by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,436,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,616,000 after buying an additional 32,982 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $468,354,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $381,938,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.