Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $260.00

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price objective lifted by Mizuho from $207.00 to $260.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on TRGP. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.54.

Targa Resources Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $237.72 on Thursday. Targa Resources has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $250.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $216.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%.The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 46.57%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total value of $5,934,309.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 197,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,640,757.34. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total value of $7,548,696.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 305,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,043,815.68. This represents a 9.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 5,327 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 157.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,931 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 2,404 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,723 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 100,094 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $17,424,000 after acquiring an additional 11,813 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Targa Resources by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,960,214 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,867,314,000 after acquiring an additional 375,939 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Targa Resources

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.