Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $128.00

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price objective lifted by Scotiabank from $112.00 to $128.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $117.92.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP opened at $112.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.86 and a 200-day moving average of $92.35. The company has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58 and a beta of 2.21. Targa Resources has a one year low of $67.36 and a one year high of $117.61.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.26). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 5.20%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.50 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 5.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.50%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total value of $973,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 219,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,354,776.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total transaction of $973,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 219,451 shares in the company, valued at $21,354,776.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jennifer R. Kneale sold 26,061 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.36, for a total transaction of $2,537,298.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 227,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,165,269.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 81,966 shares of company stock worth $7,987,215. 1.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 104,219.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,241,143 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,855,224,000 after purchasing an additional 25,216,947 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 200.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,577,027 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $478,063,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720,270 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 9,442,728 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $820,290,000 after purchasing an additional 3,554,989 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 424.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,777,797 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $285,110,000 after purchasing an additional 3,057,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $187,123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

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.