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

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $141.77.

TRGP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $123.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $124.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Argus raised Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,290,069.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 186,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,361,584.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Targa Resources news, Director Paul W. Chung sold 916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.35, for a total transaction of $124,896.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 238,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,531,882.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,290,069.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 186,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,361,584.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,534 shares of company stock worth $4,788,590 in the last 90 days. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 2,220.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $44,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $152.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $33.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.26. Targa Resources has a twelve month low of $77.97 and a twelve month high of $154.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. Targa Resources had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.73%.

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.