Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Director Sells $2,713,687.92 in Stock

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Director Charles Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at $17,019,292.32. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP traded up $7.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $263.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,428,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,407,959. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $263.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $243.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.36.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. On average, analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 17,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $267,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 3,146.1% during the first quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 7.0% during the first quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 795,557 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $199,470,000 after acquiring an additional 52,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 238.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 228,538 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,301,000 after acquiring an additional 161,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TRGP. Seaport Research Partners restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Targa Resources from $242.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price target on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.86.

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.