Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,590,000 shares, a drop of 13.1% from the May 31st total of 4,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Targa Resources news, insider Robert Muraro sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.08, for a total value of $1,200,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 196,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,649,876.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.08, for a total transaction of $1,200,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 196,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,649,876.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $304,083.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,466,764. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,791 shares of company stock valued at $4,907,563. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 200.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,577,027 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $478,063,000 after buying an additional 3,720,270 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 9,442,728 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $820,290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,554,989 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $187,123,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 231.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $119,712,000 after purchasing an additional 962,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 11,513.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 636,429 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,555,000 after purchasing an additional 630,949 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $129.73. The company had a trading volume of 452,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,478. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $118.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.12. Targa Resources has a one year low of $74.95 and a one year high of $130.53. The firm has a market cap of $28.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 2.27.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 6.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.46.

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.