Covea Finance Purchases 16,830 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Covea Finance increased its holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,830 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $13,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Peoples Financial Services CORP. bought a new position in Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 475.0% during the third quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 276 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of TRGP opened at $237.72 on Friday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.14 and a 1 year high of $250.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.55. The firm has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TRGP. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $207.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $248.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $266.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $242.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total value of $311,618.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 77,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,677,654.20. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total value of $4,006,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,311,246.96. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134 over the last three months. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.