JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price

Vistra (NYSE:VST) had its target price lowered by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $249.00 to $233.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 45.24% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on VST. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. KeyCorp started coverage on Vistra in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $217.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Vistra in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (down previously from $241.00) on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.40.

Vistra Stock Performance

Shares of Vistra stock opened at $160.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $183.19 and a 200 day moving average of $190.10. Vistra has a 12 month low of $90.51 and a 12 month high of $219.82.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 64.04% and a net margin of 6.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vistra will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Scott A. Hudson sold 56,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.86, for a total value of $9,456,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 306,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,772,476. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 58,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $10,183,556.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 218,239 shares in the company, valued at $38,137,265.25. This represents a 21.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 721,103 shares of company stock worth $141,444,518. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VST. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Vistra by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Vistra by 5.7% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 24.9% during the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Vistra by 14.0% during the third quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 4,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 7.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 35,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.