Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $226.00 to $255.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 1.67% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $248.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $192.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Targa Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.71.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Targa Resources stock traded up $5.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $250.81. 469,257 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,469,055. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $230.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.19. Targa Resources has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $253.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In related news, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total transaction of $7,548,696.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 305,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,043,815.68. The trade was a 9.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total transaction of $4,006,100.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,311,246.96. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134 in the last ninety days. 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 TRGP. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 5,327 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 157.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,931 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 8,669 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,697 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

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.