Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $210.5714.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price objective on Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Targa Resources from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Targa Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In related news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total value of $3,444,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,812,557.19. The trade was a 47.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total value of $498,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,356,748.81. The trade was a 8.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 755.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 11,494 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 10,150 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Targa Resources by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,007,421 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $168,783,000 after purchasing an additional 37,065 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,984,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1,464.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 798 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. Finally, WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $302,000. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $176.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91. Targa Resources has a 12 month low of $144.14 and a 12 month high of $218.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $166.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.66.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 51.87%. As a group, analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 53.19%.

About Targa Resources

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling natural gas liquids (NGL) and NGL products, including services to liquefied petroleum gas exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, purchasing, and selling crude oil.