Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Purchases 9,510 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. by 74.1%, owning a total of 22,344 shares worth approximately $4.48 million after acquiring 9,510 additional shares.
• Targa Resources announced a quarterly dividend increase, now at $1.00 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.00 and a dividend yield of 2.4%.
• Analysts are generally positive, with the stock receiving a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $208.86, alongside recent reaffirmations of buy ratings from institutions such as Scotiabank and Barclays.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 74.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,344 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,510 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $4,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $5,529,820,000 after purchasing an additional 423,667 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,790,955 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,764,673,000 after purchasing an additional 962,631 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 buying an additional 139,780 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 64.0% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,614,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $724,560,000 after buying an additional 1,410,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,834,418 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $568,217,000 after buying an additional 77,999 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TRGP. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating and a $192.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $205.00 price target (up previously from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Targa Resources from $259.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.86.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE TRGP traded up $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,175,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,824,726. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.11 and a 52 week high of $218.51. 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 cap of $34.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.16.

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 the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. 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.