Empowered Funds LLC Lowers Stake in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC has reduced its position in Targa Resources, Inc. by 22.9%, now holding 36,282 shares valued at $7,273,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Various hedge funds, including Gotham Asset Management and LRI Investments, have recently increased their stakes in Targa Resources, indicating growing institutional interest.
• Targa Resources recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, representing a 2.5% dividend yield and demonstrating robust financial performance despite revenue estimates not being met.

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 22.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,282 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 10,770 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $7,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Targa Resources by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 35,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $6,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 235.0% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 3,845 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 172.1% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 400 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,029,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRGP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Targa Resources from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Targa Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, TD Securities started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.86.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TRGP traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $166.38. 1,008,944 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,246,854. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $165.85 and a 200 day moving average of $171.41. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.30 and a 1 year high of $218.51. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $35.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.20.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.92. Targa Resources had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 43.35%. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Targa Resources's payout ratio is presently 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.