Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $261.00

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $261.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $205.00 target price (up previously from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Targa Resources from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Targa Resources to a “hold” rating in a research 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.86.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $173.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.69. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $218.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.60. The company has a market capitalization of $37.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued 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 is Friday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the second quarter valued at about $708,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 64.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,614,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $724,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410,747 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $196,351,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 43.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,748,708 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $551,033,000 after purchasing an additional 834,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

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.