Analysts Set Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Target Price at $210.79

Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $211.3571.

TRGP has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $205.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Targa Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $214.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total value of $3,444,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,812,557.19. This represents a 47.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total value of $498,327.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 29,561 shares in the company, valued at $5,356,748.81. This represents a 8.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Targa Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $708,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $121,426,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 441.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 675,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $117,565,000 after purchasing an additional 550,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 306.6% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 601,370 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $104,686,000 after purchasing an additional 453,460 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $180.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $38.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.50. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 51.87% and a net margin of 9.35%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 53.19%.

About Targa Resources

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.