Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $101.17 Million Stock Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its Q4 stake in Targa Resources by 1.0% to 548,339 shares, a holding valued at about $101.17 million (≈0.26% of the company).
• Targa Resources raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 (annualized $5.00), a ~2.0% yield, with an ex-dividend date of April 30 and payment on May 15.
• Analysts are broadly positive—14 Buys vs. 3 Holds—with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target around $259.93, and several firms recently bumped up targets.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 548,339 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 5,690 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Targa Resources worth $101,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Targa Resources by 5.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 143,904 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,110,000 after buying an additional 7,497 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its position in Targa Resources by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 260,760 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $43,688,000 after purchasing an additional 70,998 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 137.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 66,636 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,164,000 after purchasing an additional 38,626 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 5.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 484,462 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $81,167,000 after buying an additional 22,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFC Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the third quarter valued at about $8,478,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on TRGP. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $279.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $241.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $226.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on Targa Resources from $207.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $259.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total transaction of $4,006,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,311,246.96. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total transaction of $7,548,696.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 305,163 shares in the company, valued at $73,043,815.68. The trade was a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134 over the last quarter. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Targa Resources Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $249.26 on Thursday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $261.95. The stock has a market cap of $53.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $241.66 and a 200-day moving average of $203.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.32 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.21%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.