Candriam S.C.A. Sells 40,882 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Candriam S.C.A. cut its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 56.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 31,525 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 40,882 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $8,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Targa Resources by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,832,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,586,077,000 after buying an additional 291,114 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 4.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,226,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,814,604,000 after buying an additional 626,885 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 21.7% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,025,248 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $811,190,000 after buying an additional 539,582 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 28.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,151,993 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $790,299,000 after buying an additional 688,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 10.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,222,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $595,817,000 after acquiring an additional 215,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP opened at $273.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.01, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $289.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.76. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $166.18 and a 1 year high of $316.60.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.30. Targa Resources had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 69.26%. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 11.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 44.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TRGP. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $326.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $312.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $319.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $325.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, Director Paul W. Chung sold 1,816 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.11, for a total value of $537,735.76. Following the sale, the director owned 44,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,028,840. The trade was a 3.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 3,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $870,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 62,292 shares in the company, valued at $18,079,007.16. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 7,216 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,634 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corp. is a midstream energy company that gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs), and provides services for crude oil. Its infrastructure connects oil and gas producers with pipelines, processing facilities, fractionators, storage sites and domestic and international markets.

The company’s services include natural gas gathering, compression and processing; NGL transportation and fractionation; and crude oil gathering and terminaling.