Groupe la Francaise Has $7.62 Million Stock Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. by 8.9%, acquiring an additional 3,143 shares, bringing its total holdings to 38,266 shares valued at approximately $7.6 million.
• Targa Resources recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, up from $0.12, translating to an annualized yield of 2.5%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $2.87, significantly surpassing analyst expectations of $1.95 despite revenue falling short of projections at $4.26 billion.

Groupe la Francaise grew its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,266 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,143 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $7,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 95.8% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 10,819 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 5,293 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 72.3% during the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 10,450 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,095,000 after buying an additional 4,386 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 2,160 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 497,791 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $99,794,000 after purchasing an additional 38,097 shares during the period. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The increased its position in Targa Resources by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 8,470 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Targa Resources from $227.00 to $197.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. TD Securities assumed coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $194.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho set a $212.00 price objective on Targa Resources and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $259.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.21.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Targa Resources stock traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $166.06. The company had a trading volume of 276,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,845,771. The firm has a market cap of $35.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $142.11 and a one year high of $218.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.50 and a 200 day moving average of $174.81.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Targa Resources's payout ratio is 56.58%.

Targa Resources 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.