Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Receives Buy Rating from Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed its “buy” rating on Targa Resources and set a $340 price target, implying approximately 16.66% upside. Analysts overall maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with a $305.41 average target.
• Targa reported quarterly EPS of $3.54, beating the $2.83 consensus estimate, although revenue of $4.44 billion fell short of the $4.90 billion forecast.
• Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company, while insiders sold 7,216 shares worth approximately $2.13 million over the past 90 days.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $340.00 price target on the pipeline company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target indicates a potential upside of 16.66% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on TRGP. Raymond James Financial set a $335.00 target price on Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $291.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $324.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $282.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.41.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP opened at $291.44 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $279.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.35. Targa Resources has a 1 year low of $144.14 and a 1 year high of $307.94. The company has a market capitalization of $62.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.01, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 69.26% and a net margin of 13.55%. Equities analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $870,690.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 62,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,079,007.16. The trade was a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Davis sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.67, for a total value of $719,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,529 shares in the company, valued at $458,195.43. This represents a 61.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,216 shares of company stock worth $2,127,634. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Targa Resources by 24.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 374,589 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $100,442,000 after purchasing an additional 74,241 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,843 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 238.0% in the second 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. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,568 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,761,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,543 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corp. NYSE: TRGP is a midstream energy infrastructure company that gathers, processes, transports and fractionates natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations connect producers with downstream markets and include natural gas gathering and processing, NGL fractionation, storage, transportation and marketing, as well as crude oil gathering and logistics.

The company operates an integrated network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionation facilities, storage assets and export infrastructure across the United States.

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