Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 47,471 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 3,391 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $8,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TRGP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $735,758,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,291,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Targa Resources by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,290,099 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $607,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,246 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Targa Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $121,426,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Targa Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.0%

TRGP stock opened at $264.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.72. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $280.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $253.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%. As a group, analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total transaction of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $255.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Targa Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $249.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.21.

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.