Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

TRGP has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on Targa Resources from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price target on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, May 8th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $242.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Targa Resources from $327.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $272.20.

Targa Resources Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $258.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $55.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.72. Targa Resources has a 12-month low of $144.14 and a 12-month high of $280.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%.The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total transaction of $2,713,687.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in Targa Resources by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 4,321 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 526 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,455 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 2.7% in the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

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.