Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Targa Resources by 44.4% in Q1, now holding 16,240 shares worth $3.26 million.
• Institutional interest in Targa Resources is high, with over 92% of shares owned by institutional investors and various funds significantly increasing their positions.
• Targa Resources recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.12 to $1.00 per share, reflecting a solid annualized dividend yield of 2.5%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 44.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,240 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 12,959 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $3,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 25.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,466 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 48.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,535 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $544,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 29.9% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,758 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 5.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Targa Resources to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Targa Resources in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating and a $192.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $189.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $205.00 target price (up previously from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.21.

Targa Resources Price Performance

NYSE:TRGP traded up $1.1420 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $163.2420. The stock had a trading volume of 519,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,861,429. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G 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.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 43.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. 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 disclosed 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. 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. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Targa Resources's payout ratio is presently 56.58%.

About Targa Resources

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.