Principal Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 571 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 22.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $218.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.43.

Targa Resources Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $194.76 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.96. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12-month low of $95.88 and a 12-month high of $218.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.29.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.26%.

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.