Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in Targa Resources by 7.0%, selling 17,818 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with a total of 236,985 shares valued at approximately $47.5 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their holdings in Targa Resources, with AQR Capital Management boosting their position by 62.1% and Amundi increasing theirs by 33.8% during the same period.
• Targa Resources has a current consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $208.86, according to research analysts, following various upgrades and adjustments from firms like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 236,985 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 17,818 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Targa Resources worth $47,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TRGP. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,466 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 48.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,535 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $544,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,758 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:TRGP traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $165.14. 527,047 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,816,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $35.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $166.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.02. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.30 and a 1 year 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.92. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 43.35%. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is 56.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TRGP. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $259.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Targa Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Targa Resources to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.86.

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.