Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 7,785 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Targa Resources by 15.5%, selling 7,785 shares, resulting in a holding of 42,511 shares valued at approximately $8.52 million.
• Targa Resources reported better-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) of $2.87, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.95, while having a net margin of 8.99% for the quarter.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, which represents an annualized payout of $4.00 and an increase from the previous dividend of $0.12.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,511 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 7,785 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $8,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Targa Resources by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,652 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Targa Resources by 1.3% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,942 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 3.6% in the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 2.2% in the first quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its position in Targa Resources by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 9,234 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRGP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Targa Resources from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Targa Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Targa Resources from $259.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.86.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:TRGP traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $167.85. 986,198 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,519,261. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business's 50-day moving average price is $167.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.90. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.11 and a 12 month high of $218.51.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.92. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 43.35% and a net margin of 8.99%.The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. Analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.