Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at US Capital Advisors

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) was upgraded by stock analysts at US Capital Advisors from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

TRGP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $211.00 to $206.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $210.64.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Targa Resources stock traded down $8.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $164.68. 800,014 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,874,253. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.73. The firm has a market cap of $35.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.75. 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 $110.09 and a 12 month high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In related news, Director Waters S. Iv Davis sold 2,190 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.26, for a total transaction of $429,809.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,957.74. This trade represents a 43.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total transaction of $6,905,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 82,139 shares in the company, valued at $16,206,024.70. This trade represents a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,615 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 28,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 13,167 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 191.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,268 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after buying an additional 5,431 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $271,000. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 2,753.4% during the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,328 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,876,000 after buying an additional 53,389 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Company Profile

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.