Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Lowered to “Moderate Buy” Rating by US Capital Advisors

US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) from a strong-buy rating to a moderate buy rating in a report published on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

TRGP has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $242.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $327.00 to $331.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.21.

Targa Resources Stock Down 2.7%

TRGP stock opened at $255.14 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $251.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.18. Targa Resources has a 12 month low of $144.14 and a 12 month high of $280.00. The company has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 71.00%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total transaction of $5,934,309.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,640,757.34. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the 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 directly owned 305,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,043,815.68. The trade was a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 66,728 shares of company stock valued at $16,196,694 in the last ninety days. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in Targa Resources by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 4,321 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 526 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Targa Resources by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,455 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp raised its position in Targa Resources by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Company 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.