Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $251.32 and last traded at $250.7620, with a volume of 370863 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $245.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Targa Resources in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.57.

Targa Resources Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $223.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.84.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%.The company had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 46.57%.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total transaction of $311,618.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 77,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,677,654.20. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 31,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,311,246.96. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,755,169,000 after acquiring an additional 422,075 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 9.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,668,233 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,337,289,000 after purchasing an additional 162,878 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $1,078,497,000 after purchasing an additional 45,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Targa Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $708,366,000. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Targa Resources

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.