Berger Financial Group Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP)

Key Points

• Berger Financial Group Inc significantly reduced its stake in Targa Resources, selling 48,808 shares and now holds only 1,180 shares, valued at $237,000.
• Despite the sell-off, several other institutional investors increased their stakes in Targa Resources, with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board growing its position by 981.8%.
• Targa Resources recently reported strong earnings, with EPS of $2.87 surpassing analyst estimates, and announced a dividend increase from $0.12 to $1.00, reflecting a yield of 2.4%.

Berger Financial Group Inc decreased its position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 97.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,180 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 48,808 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TRGP. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 981.8% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,144,109 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $204,223,000 after buying an additional 1,038,350 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 22,699.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,377 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $186,112,000 after buying an additional 924,305 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 43.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,748,708 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $551,033,000 after buying an additional 834,666 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,584,275 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,529,820,000 after buying an additional 423,667 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,955,316 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $349,024,000 after buying an additional 353,165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of TRGP traded down $1.15 on Thursday, hitting $165.59. 1,399,870 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,878,920. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50 day moving average is $168.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.46. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.74 and a 1 year high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 43.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Targa Resources's payout ratio is 56.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on TRGP. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Targa Resources to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $205.00 target price (up from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $208.00 target price (up from $205.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.21.

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.