Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $181.43.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TRGP. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Targa Resources from $155.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total value of $5,709,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 82,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,793,393.07. The trade was a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total transaction of $621,812.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Buckley Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 0.7% during the third quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,925 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Targa Resources by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,685 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Targa Resources by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 934 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 4.0% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 22.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:TRGP opened at $186.17 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. The company has a market capitalization of $40.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.30. Targa Resources has a one year low of $81.03 and a one year high of $209.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.81.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.25%.

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.