SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,541 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,850 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 65.1% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,615 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 28,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 13,167 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $11,042,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 191.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,268 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 5,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 25,569 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,890 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Price Performance

TRGP opened at $203.33 on Thursday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1 year low of $84.33 and a 1 year high of $218.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.34 billion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 54.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total transaction of $621,812.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total transaction of $5,709,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 82,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,793,393.07. The trade was a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $218.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.21.

About Targa Resources

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.