Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Targa Resources by 0.6%, owning approximately 0.27% of the company worth $117.1 million after the sale.
• Targa Resources reported $2.87 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $1.95 by $0.92.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 from the previous $0.12, representing a 2.4% yield based on an annualized dividend of $4.00.

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 584,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 3,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.27% of Targa Resources worth $117,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,584,275 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,529,820,000 after purchasing an additional 423,667 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,756,419 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $492,022,000 after purchasing an additional 53,853 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 43.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,748,708 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $551,033,000 after purchasing an additional 834,666 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,191,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $391,148,000 after purchasing an additional 170,755 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,955,316 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $349,024,000 after purchasing an additional 353,165 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP stock opened at $165.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.04. The firm has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.12. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.16 and a 12-month high of $218.51. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $168.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.14.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 40.21% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is 73.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRGP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $198.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $192.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $194.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $227.00 to $197.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.79.

Targa Resources Company 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.

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