NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Makes New Investment in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 35,618 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 314.9% in the fourth quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 152,354 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,986 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Covea Finance grew its position in Targa Resources by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Covea Finance now owns 73,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $13,509,000 after buying an additional 16,830 shares during the period. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRGP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $242.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $207.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.54.

Targa Resources Price Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $237.72 on Friday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.14 and a 12-month high of $250.00. The firm has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $216.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. The business had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Research analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total transaction of $311,618.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 77,094 shares in the company, valued at $17,677,654.20. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total transaction of $4,006,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares in the company, valued at $7,311,246.96. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134. Corporate insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources 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.