Brokerages Set Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) PT at $288.00

Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $288.00.

TRGP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Targa Resources from $291.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $314.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In related news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at $17,019,292.32. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,668,233 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,337,289,000 after purchasing an additional 162,878 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,078,497,000 after buying an additional 45,495 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $735,758,000. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,389,006 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $625,272,000 after buying an additional 572,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,290,099 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $607,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,246 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $264.89 on Thursday. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $291.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $268.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%. Equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.56%.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.