Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Key Points

• Franklin Resources increased its Targa Resources stake by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 883,607 shares valued at about $163 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with 15 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings; the consensus view is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $269.21.
• Targa Resources reported mixed quarterly results, missing EPS and revenue estimates, but it also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share from $1.00.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 883,607 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,829 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Targa Resources worth $163,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Targa Resources by 37.4% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 260,760 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $43,688,000 after buying an additional 70,998 shares during the last quarter. NFC Investments LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the third quarter valued at about $8,478,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Targa Resources by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 34,805 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $6,421,000 after buying an additional 12,640 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,291,012,000 after buying an additional 1,620,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in Targa Resources by 26.8% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,242,347 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $208,143,000 after buying an additional 262,553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on TRGP shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $285.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $327.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Targa Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $281.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $269.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at $17,019,292.32. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $272.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.72. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.14 and a 52 week high of $280.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The firm's 50 day moving average is $254.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.82.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 71.00%. Research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Targa Resources's payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

About Targa Resources

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.

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