Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Scotiabank from $193.00 to $197.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the pipeline company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on TRGP. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $206.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Targa Resources from $199.00 to $191.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.07.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRGP traded up $3.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $163.89. 1,903,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,820,954. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $35.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.22. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $168.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.03. Targa Resources has a 1-year low of $116.73 and a 1-year high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.01 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.34%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 578.9% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 129 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 5,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.