ELCO Management Co. LLC Has $4.63 Million Stock Holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• ELCO Management Co. LLC cut its Targa Resources stake by 52.5% in the fourth quarter, but still held 25,116 shares worth about $4.63 million. Targa now represents 2.9% of the fund’s portfolio and is its 8th largest position.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including Robert Muraro and Director Charles R. Crisp, with total insider sales of 104,929 shares valued at about $24.7 million over the last three months.
• Targa Resources raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share from $1.00, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $263.93.

ELCO Management Co. LLC reduced its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 52.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,116 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 27,705 shares during the period. Targa Resources makes up 2.9% of ELCO Management Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. ELCO Management Co. LLC's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $4,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,291,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in Targa Resources by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,360,311 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $395,447,000 after purchasing an additional 212,887 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Targa Resources by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,175,544 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $364,491,000 after purchasing an additional 84,757 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in Targa Resources by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 1,834,117 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $338,395,000 after purchasing an additional 8,559 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total transaction of $5,934,309.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 197,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,640,757.34. The trade was a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total transaction of $311,618.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 77,094 shares in the company, valued at $17,677,654.20. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134 over the last three months. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Trading Up 2.0%

TRGP opened at $253.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $242.88 and a 200-day moving average of $205.65. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.14 and a 52 week high of $261.95.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%.The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This is an increase from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Targa Resources's payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on TRGP. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $226.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Targa Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.93.

Targa Resources Profile

Targa Resources Corporation NYSE: TRGP is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.

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