Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $362.00

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $359.00 to $362.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on TRGP. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $319.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $322.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $335.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $312.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.37.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $296.27 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $288.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.87, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.74. Targa Resources has a twelve month low of $166.18 and a twelve month high of $316.60. The company has a market capitalization of $63.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 68.83% and a net margin of 13.45%. As a group, research analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 11.55 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, Director Paul W. Chung sold 1,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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 $13,028,840. The trade was a 3.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,216 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,634 over the last ninety days. 1.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 238.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,741 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,192,000 after purchasing an additional 29,390 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $100,442,000. Freedom Day Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,631,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,314,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 756,768 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $202,920,000 after buying an additional 41,241 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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. Targa also operates facilities that support the export of NGLs and liquefied petroleum gas products.