LRI Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 172.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $71,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TRGP. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,034,545 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,124,000 after acquiring an additional 168,602 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,529 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,281 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,440,000 after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 191.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,268 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 5,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,290 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $170.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. Targa Resources Corp. has a one year low of $112.27 and a one year high of $218.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.22.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by ($1.13). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.01 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TRGP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $199.00 to $191.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $226.00 to $218.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Targa Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $201.00 to $199.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.93.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, Director Waters S. Iv Davis sold 2,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.26, for a total value of $429,809.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,957.74. This represents a 43.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.34% 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.