Royal Bank Of Canada Increases Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target to $270.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on Targa Resources from $260 to $270 and maintained an outperform rating, implying about a 10.9% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive — 14 Buys and 3 Holds — with a MarketBeat consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $257.86 after multiple recent target increases by firms like Wells Fargo, Mizuho and Stifel.
• Shares traded at $243.47 midday with a $52.3B market cap; the company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.51 vs. $2.35), but insiders sold roughly 104,929 shares (~$24.7M) over the past quarter.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $260.00 to $270.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price suggests a potential upside of 10.90% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on TRGP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Targa Resources from $248.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on Targa Resources from $207.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $257.86.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:TRGP traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $243.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 58,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,456,814. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $233.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.38. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $253.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%.The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total value of $4,006,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,311,246.96. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total value of $5,934,309.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 197,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,640,757.34. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134. Corporate insiders own 1.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,423 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,693,000 after acquiring an additional 5,327 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 157.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,931 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 6.3% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,697 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 13.1% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,521 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 11.0% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,881 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.