Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 144,196 shares and ending with about 1.46 million shares valued at roughly $269.4 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on TRGP, with 14 Buy ratings and 3 Holds; the consensus price target is $266.36, while several firms recently raised their targets to the $262–$281 range.
• Targa Resources reported Q1 earnings below expectations and recently boosted its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share from $1.00, for an annualized yield of about 1.8%.

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,460,228 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 144,196 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.68% of Targa Resources worth $269,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 526 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 340 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,076 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TRGP shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $242.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Targa Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $281.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $266.36.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Targa Resources stock opened at $270.66 on Wednesday. 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 simple moving average is $249.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.75.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%.The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.68 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Targa Resources news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total value of $5,934,309.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,640,757.34. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lindsey Cooksen sold 435 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.72, for a total transaction of $100,798.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,704,172.40. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 67,163 shares of company stock valued at $16,297,492 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company's stock.

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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