Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. by 10.6%, selling 4,780 shares and valuing its remaining holdings at approximately $6.99 million.
• Analysts have generally upgraded Targa Resources, with Wells Fargo setting a new price target of $205 and several analysts assigning a "Moderate Buy" rating.
• Targa Resources has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.12 to $1.00 per share, reflecting a positive change in its payout strategy.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,178 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 4,780 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $6,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,466 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 48.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,535 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $544,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,758 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $414,000. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRGP has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $205.00 price target (up from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Targa Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. TD Securities began coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Cfra Research raised Targa Resources to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $207.27.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $162.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Targa Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.00 and a fifty-two week high of $218.51. The stock's 50-day moving average is $165.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.91. The firm has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.12.

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. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 43.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. Analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Targa Resources's payout ratio is currently 56.58%.

About Targa Resources

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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