Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 262,553 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,242,347 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 262,553 shares during the period. Targa Resources comprises about 1.0% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.58% of Targa Resources worth $208,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 143,904 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,110,000 after buying an additional 7,497 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 137.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 66,636 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,164,000 after purchasing an additional 38,626 shares during the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 2.4% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 682,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $114,313,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Targa Resources by 5.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 484,462 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $81,167,000 after buying an additional 22,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 13.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 146,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,325,000 after buying an additional 17,457 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.9%

Targa Resources stock opened at $235.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.84. Targa Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $237.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $199.75 and its 200-day moving average price 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 (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%.The company had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,509 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.12, for a total transaction of $6,790,611.08. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 235,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,138,031.20. The trade was a 11.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 77,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,677,654.20. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 51,553 shares of company stock valued at $11,707,455 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources 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.