Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Sold by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. by 1.8% during the first quarter, holding 90,933 shares worth approximately $18.2 million after selling 1,646 shares.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Targa Resources, with Barclays increasing it to $195.00 and Wells Fargo revising it to $205.00, both maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Targa Resources announced a significant increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.12 to $1.00 per share, representing a 2.4% dividend yield for shareholders.

Acadian Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,933 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,646 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $18,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Targa Resources by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,584,275 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,529,820,000 after purchasing an additional 423,667 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,790,955 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,764,673,000 after purchasing an additional 962,631 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,565,960 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $915,338,000 after purchasing an additional 139,780 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 64.0% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,614,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $724,560,000 after buying an additional 1,410,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,834,418 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $568,217,000 after buying an additional 77,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $205.00 price target (up from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $189.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Targa Resources from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Targa Resources from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.86.

Targa Resources Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:TRGP traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.84. 712,404 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,804,138. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $165.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.98. The firm has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.69. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.30 and a 52-week high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 43.35%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is 56.58%.

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.