Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $169.79.

TRGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Argus upgraded Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.5 %

TRGP stock opened at $199.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.24. Targa Resources has a 12 month low of $81.03 and a 12 month high of $199.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.15.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly 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. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 6.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 54.25%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,703,175.82. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 185,760 shares of company stock worth $30,026,712. 1.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 209.6% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,205 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 5,555 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 20,923 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,491,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 20,618 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is 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.