Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Hits New 52-Week High at $117.66

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $117.66 and last traded at $117.61, with a volume of 507002 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $116.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TRGP. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Targa Resources from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Targa Resources from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.55.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.91. The company has a market cap of $26.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.26). Targa Resources had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.50 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.50%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider Robert Muraro sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total value of $973,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 219,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,354,776.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Targa Resources news, CFO Jennifer R. Kneale sold 26,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 227,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,165,269.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total transaction of $973,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 219,451 shares in the company, valued at $21,354,776.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,966 shares of company stock worth $7,987,215 over the last quarter. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $820,290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,554,989 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,319,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $713,107,000 after acquiring an additional 401,144 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 200.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,577,027 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $478,063,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720,270 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,791,452 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,003,000 after acquiring an additional 524,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,487,507 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $213,229,000 after acquiring an additional 39,143 shares in the last quarter. 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.