Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $238.50.

TRGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $192.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $226.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Targa Resources from $207.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $235.55 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $199.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.67. Targa Resources has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $237.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.84.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. Equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total value of $311,618.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 77,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,677,654.20. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lindsey Cooksen sold 435 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.72, for a total value of $100,798.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,704,172.40. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 51,553 shares of company stock worth $11,707,455 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 9.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Targa Resources by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,668,233 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,337,289,000 after acquiring an additional 162,878 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,078,497,000 after acquiring an additional 45,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $708,366,000. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.