Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Acquires 4,390 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Miller Howard Investments boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 2.7% in Q4, buying 4,390 shares to hold 167,940 shares worth about $30.99 million (≈0.08% of the company).
• Targa beat EPS estimates (Q reported $2.51 vs $2.35 expected) and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 (annual $5.00, ~2.1% yield; ex-dividend Apr 30, pay May 15).
• Insiders sold 104,929 shares (~$24.7M) in the last 90 days while institutional ownership is 92.13%, and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $258.07.

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 167,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,390 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned about 0.08% of Targa Resources worth $30,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Horizon Corp boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 340 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 5,046 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,076 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $235.63 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.81. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $253.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%. Sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.12, for a total value of $6,790,611.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 235,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,138,031.20. This represents a 11.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total value of $5,934,309.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 197,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,640,757.34. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134 in the last ninety days. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Targa Resources from $248.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Targa Resources from $246.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $258.07.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corporation NYSE: TRGP is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.

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