Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 94,552 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. has drastically reduced its holdings in Targa Resources, selling 94,552 shares and decreasing its position by 91.4%, leaving it with just 8,891 shares valued at approximately $1.55 million.
• Multiple hedge funds are actively trading Targa Resources, with Vanguard Group Inc. increasing its stake by 1.6% and Wellington Management Group LLP boosting theirs by 7.5% during the first quarter.
• Targa Resources recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, reflecting a substantial rise from its previous dividend of $0.12, resulting in a 2.3% dividend yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 91.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,891 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 94,552 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $1,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,584,275 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,529,820,000 after acquiring an additional 423,667 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,790,955 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,764,673,000 after purchasing an additional 962,631 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings 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 valued at $915,338,000 after purchasing an additional 139,780 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Targa Resources by 64.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,614,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $724,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 2.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 77,999 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Targa Resources in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating and a $192.00 price objective on the stock. TD Securities began coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Targa Resources to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $207.27.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $174.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $37.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.20. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.30 and a 52 week high of $218.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $165.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.16.

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

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is 56.58%.

Targa Resources Company Profile

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.

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