Targa Resources, Inc. (TRGP) - What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts remain strongly bullish: all 22 covering firms rate Targa Resources a Buy or Strong Buy, with an average 12-month price target of $317.85. Several major brokerages recently raised their targets, including JPMorgan to $351 and Jefferies to $345.
• Targa reported quarterly EPS of $3.54, beating consensus by $0.71, although revenue of $4.44 billion fell short of the $4.90 billion estimate. Analysts forecast full-year EPS of $11.30.
• Institutional investors own 92.13% of the stock and several major holders increased their stakes, while insiders sold 7,216 shares worth $2.13 million over the past 90 days. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, yielding approximately 1.7%.

Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $317.85.

TRGP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Targa Resources from $278.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $303.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $318.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $315.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $324.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, Director S Davis sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.67, for a total transaction of $719,208.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at $458,195.43. This represents a 61.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 62,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,079,007.16. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,216 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,634 in the last ninety days. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,832,687 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,586,077,000 after purchasing an additional 291,114 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,226,166 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,814,604,000 after buying an additional 626,885 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,151,993 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $790,299,000 after buying an additional 688,598 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,025,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $811,190,000 after buying an additional 539,582 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,222,046 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $595,817,000 after buying an additional 215,915 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $289.98 on Tuesday. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $307.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $283.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.97. The company has a market cap of $62.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.80.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.71. Targa Resources had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 69.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 11.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Targa Resources's payout ratio is presently 47.80%.

About Targa Resources

Targa Resources Corp. NYSE: TRGP is a Houston-based midstream energy company that owns, operates and develops infrastructure for gathering, processing, transporting, storing and exporting natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined petroleum products. Its operations connect producers with domestic and international markets across key U.S. energy-producing regions.

The company's assets include natural gas gathering and processing systems, NGL pipelines, fractionation facilities, storage assets and export terminals.

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