Hancock Whitney Corp Purchases 3,711 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Targa Resources, buying an additional 3,711 shares, raising its total holdings to 56,636 shares valued at approximately $11.35 million.
• Targa Resources reported $2.87 earnings per share in its latest quarterly earnings, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.95, despite revenue falling short of estimates at $4.26 billion.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, marking a significant increase from its previous dividend of $0.12 and representing a 2.4% annual yield.

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,636 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 3,711 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $11,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 1.6% during the first quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 451,328 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $90,422,000 after purchasing an additional 7,201 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 62.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 578,402 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $114,269,000 after buying an additional 221,484 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Targa Resources by 33.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,463,271 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $493,812,000 after acquiring an additional 622,096 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $286,000. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 74.1% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 22,344 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,480,000 after acquiring an additional 9,510 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of TRGP opened at $163.52 on Thursday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.11 and a twelve month high of $218.51. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $167.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93.

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

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $189.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cfra Research upgraded Targa Resources to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Targa Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $259.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.86.

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.

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