Wall Street Zen Downgrades Vistra (NYSE:VST) to Sell

Vistra (NYSE:VST) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VST. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on Vistra and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Evercore ISI set a $192.00 price target on Vistra and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Vistra from $191.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Vistra from $145.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.43.

Vistra Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of VST opened at $187.73 on Friday. Vistra has a 52 week low of $72.90 and a 52 week high of $216.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58. The company has a market capitalization of $63.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $195.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.91.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vistra will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vistra

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth about $262,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Vistra by 159.1% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,265,000 after buying an additional 7,177 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Vistra by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 23,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,608,000 after buying an additional 4,776 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in Vistra by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.