Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $2.15 Million Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,708 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Targa Resources were worth $2,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 64,245 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Targa Resources by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,405 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP opened at $152.86 on Friday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1 year low of $77.97 and a 1 year high of $154.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $33.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $141.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.28.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 23.98% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,290,069.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 186,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,361,584.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,290,069.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 186,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,361,584.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul W. Chung sold 916 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.35, for a total value of $124,896.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 238,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,531,882.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,534 shares of company stock valued at $4,788,590. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on TRGP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $124.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.77.

Targa Resources 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.