Wealthfront Advisers LLC Raises Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Wealthfront increased its stake in Targa Resources by 31.4% in Q4 to 19,256 shares worth $3.55 million, while institutional investors collectively own about 92.13% of the stock.
• Analysts are broadly bullish—14 Buys vs. 3 Holds—giving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a mean target price of $259.93, with several firms recently raising targets into the high $200s.
• Targa raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 (annualized $5.00, ~2.0% yield), even as insiders sold roughly 104,929 shares (~$24.7 million) over the past three months.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 31.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,256 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,602 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $3,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,423 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 5,327 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 157.4% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,931 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,697 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,521 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,881 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $298.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $192.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Fourteen 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, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.93.

Targa Resources Stock Down 2.1%

Targa Resources stock opened at $254.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $260.49.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. On average, analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total transaction of $311,618.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,094 shares in the company, valued at $17,677,654.20. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total transaction of $4,006,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,311,246.96. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Company Profile

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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