Jennifer Kneale Sells 29,509 Shares of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) President Jennifer Kneale sold 29,509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.12, for a total value of $6,790,611.08. Following the sale, the president owned 235,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,138,031.20. The trade was a 11.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.7%

Targa Resources stock traded down $1.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $230.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,142,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,768. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.88. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.14 and a 12 month high of $233.28.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,755,169,000 after buying an additional 422,075 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,668,233 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,337,289,000 after purchasing an additional 162,878 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,078,497,000 after purchasing an additional 45,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $708,366,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on TRGP shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Targa Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.50.

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.