Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Holdings Decreased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 175,858 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,333 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $47,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 5,327 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Targa Resources by 157.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,931 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Targa Resources by 6.3% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,697 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $787,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 11.0% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,881 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

TRGP opened at $275.77 on Friday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.14 and a 12 month high of $291.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.72. The stock has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.01.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.71. Targa Resources had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 69.26%. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $242.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $291.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $333.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $295.35.

Targa Resources Profile

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.