Wall Street Zen Upgrades Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) to “Buy”

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on TRGP. Mizuho lowered their price target on Targa Resources from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price target on Targa Resources from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Targa Resources from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.27.

Targa Resources Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of TRGP opened at $165.41 on Friday. Targa Resources has a 52-week low of $144.30 and a 52-week high of $218.51. The company has a market capitalization of $35.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.92. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 43.35% and a net margin of 8.99%.The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,942 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Targa Resources by 3.6% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its position in Targa Resources by 3.2% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Targa Resources by 11.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Targa Resources by 0.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,296 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

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.