Empirical Finance LLC Buys 252 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,007 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Targa Resources in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 2,220.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE TRGP opened at $196.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.24. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $81.03 and a 1-year high of $197.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 54.25%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total transaction of $365,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 174,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,504,736.20. This trade represents a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 185,760 shares of company stock valued at $30,026,712. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $175.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $169.79.

Targa Resources Profile

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.