Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 43.35% and a net margin of 8.99%.The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion.

Targa Resources Stock Up 4.5%

NYSE TRGP traded up $7.28 on Thursday, hitting $169.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,442,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,778,659. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $161.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Targa Resources has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $218.51. The stock has a market cap of $36.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.16.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.58%.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Merewether Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 992,582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $172,789,000 after purchasing an additional 343,319 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 98.8% in the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 440,408 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $76,666,000 after acquiring an additional 218,843 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in Targa Resources in the second quarter worth about $33,796,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 154.6% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 227,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,652,000 after acquiring an additional 138,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 20.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 598,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $104,116,000 after acquiring an additional 100,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $205.00 price target (up previously from $198.00) on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.50.

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.