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

Covea Finance grew its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 4.1% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 3.6% during the third quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Targa Resources by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 5,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its stake in Targa Resources by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Targa Resources by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,849 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Targa Resources stock opened at $237.72 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.55. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.14 and a 12 month high of $250.00. The company has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21.

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

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,509 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.12, for a total value of $6,790,611.08. Following the sale, the president directly owned 235,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,138,031.20. This represents a 11.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 305,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,043,815.68. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRGP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $248.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $226.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.54.

About Targa Resources

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.