Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $308.07 and last traded at $308.4420, with a volume of 210,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $302.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TRGP shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $318.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Capital One Financial upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Targa Resources from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $282.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $303.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-one have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $325.47.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.84. The firm has a market cap of $65.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.80.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.71. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 69.26% and a net margin of 13.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 11.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $870,690.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 62,292 shares in the company, valued at $18,079,007.16. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Waters S. Iv Davis sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.67, for a total value of $719,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $458,195.43. The trade was a 61.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,216 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,634. Insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Targa Resources by 39.3% in the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,843 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 16.2% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 19,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,344,000 after buying an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Targa Resources by 4.0% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board increased its position in Targa Resources by 2.9% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 6,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.7% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 90,810 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,547,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

About Targa Resources

Targa Resources Corp. is a Houston-based midstream energy company that owns, operates and develops infrastructure used to gather, process, transport, store and fractionate natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support producers and other energy companies by connecting hydrocarbon supplies with domestic and international markets.

The company’s services include natural gas gathering and processing, NGL recovery, fractionation and storage, crude oil gathering, and the transportation and logistics of NGLs and related products.