HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 68,589 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,243,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Targa Resources by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,026 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in Targa Resources by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 19,440 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Targa Resources by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 557 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $174.48 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.18. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $110.09 and a 12 month high of $218.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Targa Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of Targa Resources 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,731,100.98. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total value of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. US Capital Advisors raised shares of Targa Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $210.64.

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.