Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on TRGP. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cfra Research raised Targa Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up previously from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.50.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Targa Resources stock traded up $1.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $171.81. 2,151,505 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,780,978. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $161.19 and a 200-day moving average of $164.71. Targa Resources has a 1 year low of $144.14 and a 1 year high of $218.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.16.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 43.35%. As a group, analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 53.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.3% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 5,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 3.2% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 11.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,296 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,849 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.