Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Targa Resources to $264 and kept an overweight rating, implying roughly a 10.7% upside; several other brokerages also raised targets or reaffirmed buy/overweight calls, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $241.93.
• Shares were trading around $238.52 with a $51.3B market cap and a P/E of 27.8; the company beat quarterly EPS ($2.51 vs. $2.35 expected) and analysts project about 8.15 EPS for the year.
• Insiders sold about 104,929 shares in the last quarter, while institutional investors hold roughly 92.13% of the stock.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $248.00 to $264.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.68% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on TRGP. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $266.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $241.93.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE TRGP traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $238.52. The stock had a trading volume of 234,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,442,407. The firm has a market cap of $51.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.84. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $250.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $209.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lindsey Cooksen sold 435 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.72, for a total transaction of $100,798.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,704,172.40. This trade represents a 3.59% 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 Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total transaction of $7,548,696.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 305,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,043,815.68. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134. 1.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Peoples Financial Services CORP. acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% 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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