Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. by 47.3%, acquiring an additional 540,808 shares, bringing its total shareholding to 1,684,917 shares worth approximately $337.8 million.
• Targa Resources announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00, representing a 2.4% dividend yield and an annualized total of $4.00.
• The company's revenue for the last quarter was reported at $4.26 billion, which fell short of analyst estimates of $4.82 billion, while its earnings per share exceeded expectations at $2.87.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 47.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,684,917 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 540,808 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.78% of Targa Resources worth $337,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 156,862 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $31,446,000 after acquiring an additional 80,750 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 1st quarter worth $388,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in Targa Resources by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 11,508 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,307,000 after acquiring an additional 2,667 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 39.2% during the first quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 19,169 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,843,000 after buying an additional 5,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TRGP. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Targa Resources from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $192.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Targa Resources from $189.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $194.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.86.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP traded up $0.89 on Monday, hitting $167.85. 986,198 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,519,261. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.45 and a 200-day moving average of $173.64. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.11 and a 12-month high of $218.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.21.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 43.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Targa Resources's payout ratio is 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.