Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $209.86.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TRGP. TD Securities started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $259.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, US Capital Advisors raised shares of Targa Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 578.9% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 129 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 5,400.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP stock traded up $4.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,441,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,845,741. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.04, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. Targa Resources has a twelve month low of $122.56 and a twelve month high of $218.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.73. The company has a market cap of $37.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.07.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($1.13). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Targa Resources's payout ratio is presently 73.66%.

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.