Lee Financial Co Acquires New Shares in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Lee Financial Co bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,812 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,960,214 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,867,314,000 after purchasing an additional 375,939 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,856,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,022,222,000 after buying an additional 95,611 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Targa Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $708,366,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 12.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,886,844 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $328,462,000 after buying an additional 201,927 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 7.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,601,244 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $278,745,000 after buying an additional 107,028 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $201.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $182.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.87. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $211.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.02). Targa Resources had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 51.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on TRGP. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $213.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Targa Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total value of $498,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,356,748.81. This represents a 8.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total transaction of $3,444,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,557.19. The trade was a 47.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

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.