Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 744,263 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 2,226 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.34% of Targa Resources worth $149,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 2.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Targa Resources by 1.3% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,942 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 19,440 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,470,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 2.2% during 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. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Targa Resources from $193.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $259.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $227.00 to $197.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $206.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.67.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TRGP traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $173.52. 760,692 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,835,929. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.04, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.07. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.56 and a 52 week high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($1.13). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 7.35%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.01 billion. Analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.66%.

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.