Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $205.43.

TRGP has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In related news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total transaction of $5,750,856.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,731,100.98. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 5,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $198.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Targa Resources has a 12-month low of $96.64 and a 12-month high of $218.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.53.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.26%.

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.