Targa Resources (TRGP) Competitors

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) and APA (NASDAQ:APA) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment, profitability, earnings and risk.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, TRGP or APA?

Targa Resources has higher revenue and earnings than APA. APA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Targa Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Targa Resources	$16.38B	2.31	$1.28B	$5.43	32.12
APA	$9.74B	0.76	$804M	$2.78	7.37

Which has more volatility and risk, TRGP or APA?

Targa Resources has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, APA has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend TRGP or APA?

Targa Resources presently has a consensus target price of $208.31, suggesting a potential upside of 19.42%. APA has a consensus target price of $24.83, suggesting a potential upside of 21.14%. Given APA's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe APA is more favorable than Targa Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Targa Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
APA	3 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.06

Is TRGP or APA more profitable?

APA has a net margin of 9.75% compared to Targa Resources' net margin of 7.35%. Targa Resources' return on equity of 30.48% beat APA's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Targa Resources	7.35%	30.48%	5.43%
APA	9.75%	23.22%	7.63%

Is TRGP or APA a better dividend stock?

Targa Resources pays an annual dividend of $4.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. APA pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Targa Resources pays out 73.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. APA pays out 36.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Targa Resources has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. APA is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor TRGP or APA?

In the previous week, APA had 4 more articles in the media than Targa Resources. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for APA and 19 mentions for Targa Resources. Targa Resources' average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat APA's score of 0.90 indicating that Targa Resources is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Targa Resources	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
APA	13 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in TRGP or APA?

92.1% of Targa Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of APA shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Targa Resources shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of APA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Targa Resources beats APA on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.