Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Argus

Argus assumed coverage on shares of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $140.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock.

TRGP has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $111.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Targa Resources from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $129.46.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $127.48 on Wednesday. Targa Resources has a 52-week low of $71.21 and a 52-week high of $130.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 2.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $117.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.21.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The pipeline company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 24.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 2,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $304,083.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,228 shares in the company, valued at $6,466,764. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 2,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $304,083.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,228 shares in the company, valued at $6,466,764. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.13, for a total value of $2,262,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 136,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,396,766.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,691 shares of company stock worth $4,894,563. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Targa Resources by 17.2% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 633 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its position in Targa Resources by 0.6% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 17,695 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Targa Resources by 0.5% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 24,515 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,745,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,013 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling natural gas liquids (NGL) and NGL products, including services to liquefied petroleum gas exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, purchasing, and selling crude oil.